Funding, Deals & Partnerships: BIOLOGICS & MEDICAL DEVICES; BioMed e-Series; Medicine and Life Sciences Scientific Journal – http://PharmaceuticalIntelligence.com
ChatGPT Searches and Advent of Meta Threads: What it Means for Social Media and Science 3.0
Curator: Stephen J. Williams, PhD
The following explains how popular ChatGPT has become and how the latest social media platforms, including Meta’s (FaceBook) new platform Threads, is becoming as popular or more popular than older social Platforms. In fact, since its short inception since last week (Threads launced 7/07/2023), Threads is threatening Twitter for dominance in that market.
U.S. searches for ChatGPT overtake TikTok, Pinterest, and Zoom
Google searches for ChatGPT have overtaken TikTok in the U.S., jumping to 7.1 million monthly searches compared to 5.1 million
The term ‘ChatGPT’ is now one of the top 100 search terms in the U.S., ranking 92nd, according to Ahrefs data
ChatGPT is now searched more than most major social networks, including LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, and Reddit
Analysis of Google search data reveals that online searches for ChatGPT, the popular AI chatbot, have overtaken most popular social networks in the U.S. This comes when search interest in artificial intelligence is at its highest point in history.
The findings by Digital-adoption.com reveal that US-based searches for ChatGPT have exploded and overtaken popular social networks, such as LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Tiktok, some by millions.
Ranking
Keyword
US Search Volume (Monthly)
1
Facebook
70,920,000
2
YouTube
69,260,000
3
Twitter
15,440,000
4
Instagram
12,240,000
5
ChatGPT
7,130,000
6
LinkedIn
6,990,000
7
Pinterest
5,790,000
8
TikTok
5,130,000
9
Reddit
4,060,000
10
Snapchat
1,280,000
11
WhatsApp
936,000
Since its release in November 2022, searches for ChatGPT have overtaken those of most major social networks. According to the latest June search figures by search tool Ahrefs, searches for ‘ChatGPT’ and ‘Chat GPT’ are made 7,130,000 times monthly in the U.S.
That’s more than the monthly search volume for most of the top ten social networks, including LinkedIn, Pinterest, and TikTok. TikTok is one of the largest growing social media apps, with 100 million users in just a year.
The term ‘ChatGPT’ is now one of the top 100 search terms in the U.S., ranking 92nd, according to Ahrefs data
Searches for ChatGPT have eclipsed other major networks in the U.S., such as Reddit, by millions.
Every day search terms such as ‘maps’ and ‘flights’ have even seen their search volumes pale compared to the rising popularity of ChatGPT. ‘Maps’ is currently searched 440,000 times less than the chatbot each month, and ‘Flights’ is now Googled 2.2 million times less.
2023 has been a breakout year for AI, as searches for the term have more than doubled from 17 million in January 2023 to 42 million in May. In comparison, there were 7.9 million searches in January 2022. There has been an 825% increase in searches for ‘AI’ in the US compared to the average over the last five years.
There is a correlation between the uptick and the public releases of accessible AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, released on November 30, 2022, and Bing AI and Google Bard, released in May 2023.
According to TikTok data, interest in artificial intelligence has soared tenfold since 2020, and virtual reality has more than tripled.
AI has been a big topic of conversation this year as accessible AI chatbots and new technologies were released and sparked rapid adoption, prompting tech leaders like Elon Musk to call for AI regulation.
A spokesperson from Digital-adoption.com commented on the findings: “There has been a massive surge in AI interest this year. Apple’s announcement of Vision Pro has captured audiences at the right time, when new AI technologies, like ChatGPT, have become accessible to almost anyone. The rapid adoption of ChatGPT is surprising, with it becoming one of the fastest-growing tools available”.
All data was gathered from Ahrefs and Google Trends.
If using this story, please include a link tohttps://www.digital-adoption.com/ who conducted this study. A linked credit allows us to keep supplying you with content that you may find useful in the future.
Updated July 10, 2023 9:00 am ET / Original July 10, 2023 7:44 am ET
The launch of Meta Platforms’ Threads looks to have outpaced even the viral success of ChatGPT in terms of signing up users. The next challenge will be keeping them around.
Since its inception on Thursday 7/07/2023, Meta’s new Threads platform has been signing up new users at an alarming rate. On rollout date 5 million signed up, then 30 million by next morning and now as of today (7/1/2023) Threads has over 100 million signups. Compare that to Twitter’s 436 million users, of which are tweeting on average 25% less than a few years ago, and it is easy to see why many social media pundits are calling Threads the new Twitter killer app.
Here are a few notes from the New York Times podcast The Daily
Last week, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, released Threads, a social media platform to compete with Twitter. In just 16 hours, Threads was downloaded more than 30 million times.
Mike Isaac, who covers tech companies and Silicon Valley for The Times, explains how Twitter became so vulnerable and discusses the challenges Meta faces to create a less toxic alternative.
Guest: Mike Isaac, a technology correspondent for The New York Times.
Background reading:
Threads is onpace to exceed 100 million users within two months, a feat achieved only by ChatGPT.
Here’s what to know about Threads and how it differs from Twitter.
Here are a few notes from the podcast:
Mike Isaac lamented that Twitter has become user unfriendly for a host of reasons. These include:
The instant reply’guys’ – people who reply but don’t really follow you or your thread
Your followers or following are not pushed to top of thread
The auto bots – the automated Twitter bots
Spam feeds
The changes in service and all these new fees: Twitter push to monetize everything – like airlines
Elon Musk wanted to transform Twitter but his history is always cutting, not just trimming the excess but he is known to just eliminate departments just because he either doesn’t want to pay or CAN’T pay. With Twitter he gutted content moderation.
Twitter ad business is plumetting but Musk wants to make Twitter a subscription business (the Blue check mark)
Twitter only gets a couple of million $ per month from Twitter Blue but Musk has to pay billions to just pay the interest on Twitter loan for Twitter puchase years ago
It is known that Musk is not paying rent on some California offices (some are suggesting he defaulted on leases) and Musk is selling Tesla stock to pay for Twitter expenses (why TSLA stock has been falling … the consensus out there)
Twitter is largest compendium of natural language conversations and Musk wanted to limit bots from scraping Twitter data to do AI and NLP on Twitter threads. This is also a grievance from other companies… that these ‘scrapers’ are not paying enough for Twitter data. However as Mike asks why do the little Twitter user have to pay in either fees or cutbacks from service. (the reason why Elon is limiting viewing per day is to limit these bots from scraping Twitter for data)
Another problem is that Twitter does not have its own servers so pays a lot to Google and AWS for server space. It appears Elon and Twitter are running out of money.
META and THREADS
Zuckerberg has spent billions of infrastructure spending and created a massive advertising ecosystem. This is one of the thoughts behind his push and entry into this space. Zuckerberg actually wanted to but Twitter a decade ago.
Usage and growth: The launch of Threads was Thursday 7-07-23. There were 2 million initial signups and by next morning 30 million overnight. Today Monday 7-10-23 there are 100 million, rivaling Twitter’s 436 million accounts. And as Musk keeps canceling Twitter accounts, angering users over fees or usage restrictions, people are looking for a good platform. Mastedon in too technical and not having the adoption like Meta Threads is having. Mike Isaac hopes Threads will not go the way of Google Hangouts or Plus but Google strategy did not involve social media like Facebook.
Signup and issues: Signup on Threads is easy but you need to go through Instagram. Some people have concerns about having their instagram thread put on their Threads feed but Mike had talked to the people at Meta and they are working to allow users to keep the feeds separate, mainly because Meta understands that the Instgagram and Twitter social cultures are different and users may want to keep Threads more business-like.
Important issues for LPBI: Twitter had decided, by end of May 2023 to end their relationship with WordPress JetPack service, in which WordPress posts could automatically be posted to your Twitter account and feed. Twitter is making users like WordPress pay for this API and WordPress said it would be too expensive as Twitter is not making a flat fee but per usage fee. This is a major hindrance even though the Twitter social share button is still active on posts.
Initial conversations between META and WordPress have indicated META will keep this API service free for WordPress.
So a little background on Meta Threads and signup features from Meta (Facebook) website:
Takeaways
Threads is a new app, built by the Instagram team, for sharing text updates and joining public conversations.
You log in using your Instagram account and posts can be up to 500 characters long and include links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length.
We’re working to soon make Threads compatible with the open, interoperable social networks that we believe can shape the future of the internet.
Mark Zuckerberg just announced the initial version of Threads, an app built by the Instagram team for sharing with text. Whether you’re a creator or a casual poster, Threads offers a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations. We are working toward making Threads compatible with the open, interoperable social networks that we believe can shape the future of the internet.
Instagram is where billions of people around the world connect over photos and videos. Our vision with Threads is to take what Instagram does best and expand that to text, creating a positive and creative space to express your ideas. Just like on Instagram, with Threads you can follow and connect with friends and creators who share your interests – including the people you follow on Instagram and beyond. And you can use our existing suite of safety and user controls.
Join the Conversation from Instagram
It’s easy to get started with Threads: simply use your Instagram account to log in. Your Instagram username and verification will carry over, with the option to customize your profile specifically for Threads.
Everyone who is under 16 (or under 18 in certain countries) will be defaulted into a private profile when they join Threads. You can choose to follow the same accounts you do on Instagram, and find more people who care about the same things you do. The core accessibility features available on Instagram today, such as screen reader support and AI-generated image descriptions, are also enabled on Threads.
Your feed on Threads includes threads posted by people you follow, and recommended content from new creators you haven’t discovered yet. Posts can be up to 500 characters long and include links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length. You can easily share a Threads post to your Instagram story, or share your post as a link on any other platform you choose.
Tune Out the Noise
We built Threads with tools to enable positive, productive conversations. You can control who can mention you or reply to you within Threads. Like on Instagram, you can add hidden words to filter out replies to your threads that contain specific words. You can unfollow, block, restrict or report a profile on Threads by tapping the three-dot menu, and any accounts you’ve blocked on Instagram will automatically be blocked on Threads.
As with all our products, we’re taking safety seriously, and we’ll enforce Instagram’s Community Guidelines on content and interactions in the app. Since 2016 we’ve invested more than $16 billion in building up the teams and technologies needed to protect our users, and we remain focused on advancing our industry-leading integrity efforts and investments to protect our community.
Compatible with Interoperable Networks
Soon, we are planning to make Threads compatible with ActivityPub, the open social networking protocol established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the body responsible for the open standards that power the modern web. This would make Threads interoperable with other apps that also support the ActivityPub protocol, such as Mastodon and WordPress – allowing new types of connections that are simply not possible on most social apps today. Other platforms including Tumblr have shared plans to support the ActivityPub protocol in the future.
We’re committed to giving you more control over your audience on Threads – our plan is to work with ActivityPub to provide you the option to stop using Threads and transfer your content to another service. Our vision is that people using compatible apps will be able to follow and interact with people on Threads without having a Threads account, and vice versa, ushering in a new era of diverse and interconnected networks. If you have a public profile on Threads, this means your posts would be accessible from other apps, allowing you to reach new people with no added effort. If you have a private profile, you’d be able to approve users on Threads who want to follow you and interact with your content, similar to your experience on Instagram.
The benefits of open social networking protocols go well beyond the ways people can follow each other. Developers can build new types of features and user experiences that can easily plug into other open social networks, accelerating the pace of innovation and experimentation. Each compatible app can set its own community standards and content moderation policies, meaning people have the freedom to choose spaces that align with their values. We believe this decentralized approach, similar to the protocols governing email and the web itself, will play an important role in the future of online platforms.
Threads is Meta’s first app envisioned to be compatible with an open social networking protocol – we hope that by joining this fast-growing ecosystem of interoperable services, Threads will help people find their community, no matter what app they use.
What’s Next
We’re rolling out Threads today in more than 100 countries for iOS and Android, and people in those countries can download the app from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
In addition to working toward making Threads compatible with the ActivityPub protocol, soon we’ll be adding a number of new features to help you continue to discover threads and creators you’re interested in, including improved recommendations in feed and a more robust search function that makes it easier to follow topics and trends in real time.
Should Science Migrate over to Threads Instead of Twitter?
I have written multiple time of the impact of social media, Science and Web 2.0 and the new Science and Web 3.0 including
It, as of this writing, appears it is not crucial that scientific institutions need to migrate over to Threads yet, although the impetus is certainly there. Many of the signups have of course been through Instagram (which is the only way to signup for now) and a search of @Threads does not show that large scientific organizations have signed up for now.
A search for NIH, NCBI, AACR, and Personalized Medicine Coalition or PMC which is the big MGH orgaization on personalized medicine appears to return nothing yet. Pfizer and most big pharma is on @Threads now but that is because they maintain a marketing thread on Instagram. How necessary is @Threads for communicating science over Science 3.0 platform remains to be seen. In addition, how will @Threads be used for real time scientific conference coverage? Will Meta be able to integrate with virtual reality?
Other articles of Note on this Open Access Scientific Journal Include:
Frank Wilkens Jr and Family Endowed Scholar in AD Research, MGH; Assistant Professor of Neurology, HMS
TYK2 as a novel therapeutic target in a subset of Alzheimer’s Disease with neuroinflammation
Predictive Biomarkers for ALS & AD
Genetic validation: TYK2 – NADALS Basket Trial
Yakeel Quiroz, PhD
Director, Familial Dementia Neuroimaging Lab and Director, Multicultural Alzheimer’s Prevention Program, MGH; Paul B. and Sandra M. Edgerley MGH Research Scholar; Associate Professor, HMS
Untangling the role of rare genetic variant in protection against Alzheimer’s disease: From biomarkers to novel therapeutic targets
· Unmet needs of AD
· Familial AD research: sporadic late onset +65
· COLBOS Extreme – Protection against Dementia
· Regulation of amyloid formation: Amyloid Beta aggregation & uptake
· Neuronal Tau – mutation on Reelin gene
· Bind to heparin
· Reduce Tau phosphorylation
Tanya Mayadas, PhD
Senior Staff Scientist, BWH; Professor of Pathology, HMS Targeting neutrophils for T cell-mediated anti-tumor immunotherapy
Targeting neutrophils for T cell-mediated anti-tumor immunotherapy
Dendritic cells lack robust anti-tumor
Neutrophil CD16B with Antigen to generate APCs
AAC increases T cells and neutral killer (NK) cell infiltration
AAC enhances anti PD-1 increases activation and accumulation of memory TSCM and TRM cells
Translation – AAC combination therapy
Synho Do, PhD
Director, Lab of Medical Imaging and Computation, Mass General Brigham; Assistant Professor, HMS
SafeAI: Live Error-free or Die
AI Classifier
AI algorithms effective errors – accountability for AI mistakes
Error-free in normal cases vs in all cases
Scalability and large-scale data throughput
Continuous Learning AI: Auto-label open DBs
Repurposing AI: from traditional AI to SafeAI
Tatjana Jakobs, MD
Associate Scientist, Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass Eye and Ear; Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, HMS
Astrocyte-derived SPP1 prevents age and glaucoma-related loss of vision
Age and glaucoma
Mining astrocytes for neuroprotective factors
Spp1 is expressed in response to optic nerve damage – is neuroprotective
Overexpression of Spp1 via AAV2
Visual acuity in glaucoma
Retinal ganglion cells- Spp1 as a noval target
Russell Jenkins, MD, PhD
Investigator, Center for Cancer Research, MGH; Assistant Professor of Medicine, HMS
Evaluating Novel Cancer Therapeutic Strategies Using Living Tumor Biopsies
Matastatic cancer (melanoma) cured with immunotherapy
PD-1 and PDL-1 pathways – Solid tumors
Clinical Trial landscape is very complex
Combination therapy Trials – Human tumor immunity: Check inhibitors -pus antiPD-1 – functional precision cancer medicine
Testing across cancer types & stages
Deprioritized ineffective strategies
ROCHE leads the way
PDOTS tumor-immune interactions
Clotilde Lagier-Tourenne, MD, PhD
Araminta Broch-Healey Endowed Chair in ALS, MGH; Associate Professor of Neurology, HMS
Targeting disruption of stathmin-2 in neurodegenerative diseases
ALS and FTD (Frontaltemporal Dementia): Overlapping neurodegenerative diseases
TDP-43: an RNA binding protein in abnormal slpicing of stathmin-2 (STMN2)
STMN2 – neuromuscular junctions and axonal regeneration
Statin-mediated increase in STMN2 RNA with neurite extension– compound that restore STMN2 in neurodegenerative disease
Kerry Ressler, MD, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer, McLean Hospital; Professor of Psychiatry, HMS
Preventing post-traumatic stress disorder: Novel pharmacological approaches based on the neuroscience of fear
Two drugs for PTSD – no biomarkers known
Neuroscience – fear: amygdala biology of trauma
Memory of fear – Trauma consolidation: car crush
AURORA study
Amygdala reactivity 3 month and 12 month later – efficacy of NKB-expressing cells – antagonismachieve fear expression reduced
Predictive analytics to prevent sequela of PTSD
Atomwise – new compounds
Fabrisia Ambrosio, PhD
Atlantic Charter Director of the Discovery Center for Musculoskeletal Recovery, Schoen Adams Research Institute, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital; Faculty, HMS
Extracellular vesicle engineering to counteract age-related cognitive declines
Age and exercise have circulating rejuvenating effects
Lifespan: decline physical and cognitive
Extracellular Vesicles (EV): information exchange reprogram distal cells
EV cross the BBB: functional memory, circulatory contribution
CNS application to benefit from research on EV – evaluate cognitive outcomes
Molecules: Klotin effect in the aging brain
Molecular cargo: optimize cargo engineering, dosing study and Kinetics
Li Chai, MD
Pathologist and Principal Investigator, BWH; Associate Professor of Pathology, HMS
Novel mechanism and compound targeting oncogenic transcription factor SALL4 in cancer
Transcription factors SALL4 – a “fetal-oncoprotein” in the liver – is present in wild variety of tumors
SALL4 knockout mice are resistant to tumor formation
Mechanism: MYC and PTEN known to drive cancer formation
Liver cancer HCC: high incidence globally, high mortality, no effective therapy
SALL4 target viability: CP1, a non-IMiD (IP protected) small molecule SALL4 degrader reduceing tumor growth in vivo — >> apoptosis
Angela Shen, MD / Marcela Maus, MD, PhD
Original Presenter: Marcela Maus, MD, PhD Director, Cellular Immunotherapy, MGH; Associate Professor, HMS Video Presenter: Angela Shen, MD Vice President, Strategic Innovation Leaders, MGB Innovation
Novel CAR-T cells engineered to overcome obstacles observed in the clinic
CAR-T next generation genetically-modified (CAR) T in patients with cancer and other diseases
New targets – CD37 and CD70 – B & T cell lymphoma, AML
TACI/BCMA – multiple myeloma
Target multiple targets – CD79b/CD19 – B cell lymphoma
CRISPR – solid tumors, novel proof of concept POC
Allo and auto rejection – Cloaking
CAR-TEAM [T cell Engaging Antibody Molecule]
Ralph Mazitschek, PhD
Ralph Mazitschek, PhD Principal Investigator, MGH; Assistant Professor, HMS
Unlocking aminoacyl-tRNA-synthetases as novel drug targets for first-in-class therapeutics
Aminoacyl tRNA-Syntherases (aaRSs) as grug target after the biology is known
Human aaRSspoised for small moledule inhibitors
No drug no progress no interest
Current aaRS inhibitor discovery & development: high throughput screening & medicinal chemistry campaign
Human prolyl-tRNA synthease: NCP26 targets cancer cells by Inhibiting multiple myeloma growth in vitro and in vivo
Data powers AI. Good data can mean the difference between an impactful solution or one that never gets off the ground. Re-assess the foundational AI questions to ensure your data is working for, not against, you.
Innovation to Reality
The challenges of implementing AI are many. Avoid the common pitfalls with real-world case studies from leaders who have successfully turned their AI solutions into reality.
Harness What’s Possible at the Edge
With its potential for near instantaneous decision making, pioneers are moving AI to the edge. We examine the pros and cons of moving AI decisions to the edge, with the experts getting it right.
Generative AI Solutions
The use of generative AI to boost human creativity is breaking boundaries in creative areas previously untouched by AI. We explore the intersection of data and algorithms enabling collaborative AI processes to design and create.
Data powers AI. Good data can mean the difference between an impactful solution or one that never gets off the ground. Re-assess the foundational AI questions to ensure your data is working for, not against, you.
Data is the most under-valued and de-glamorized aspect of AI. Learn why shifting the focus from model/algorithm development to quality of the data is the next and most efficient, way to improve the decision-making abilities of AI.
Data labeling is key to determining the success or failure of AI applications. Learn how to implement a data-first approach that can transform AI inference, resulting in better models that make better decisions.
Question the status quo. Build stakeholder trust. These are foundational elements of thought leadership in AI. Explore how organizations can use their data and algorithms in ethical and responsible ways while building bigger and more effective systems.
Haniyeh Mahmoudian
Global AI Ethicist, DataRobot
Mainstage Break (10:35 a.m. – 11:05 a.m.)
Networking and refreshments for our live audience and a selection of curated content for those tuning in virtually.
With its next-generation machine learning models fueling precision medicine, French biotech company, Owkin, captured the attention of the pharma industry. Learn how they did it and get tips to navigate the complex task of scaling your innovation.
Networking and refreshments for our live audience.
Innovation to Reality (11:05 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.)
The challenges of implementing AI are many. Avoid the common pitfalls with real-world case studies from leaders who have successfully turned their AI solutions into reality.
Deploying AI in real-world environments benefits from human input before and during implementation. Get an inside look at how organizations can ensure reliable results with the key questions and competing needs that should be considered when implementing AI solutions.
AI is evolving from the research lab into practical real world applications. Learn what issues should be top of mind for businesses, consumers, and researchers as we take a deep dive into AI solutions that increase modern productivity and accelerate intelligence transformation.
Getting AI to work 80% of the time is relatively straightforward, but trustworthy AI requires deployments that work 100% of the time. Unpack some of the biggest challenges that come up when eliminating the 20% gap.
Bali Raghavan
Head of Engineering, Forward
Lunch and Networking Break (12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.)
Lunch served at the MIT Media Lab and a selection of curated content for those tuning in virtually.
Harness What’s Possible at the Edge (1:30 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.)
With its potential for near instantaneous decision making, pioneers are moving AI to the edge. We examine the pros and cons of moving AI decisions to the edge, with the experts getting it right.
To create sustainable business impact, AI capabilities need to be tailored and optimized to an industry or organization’s specific requirements and infrastructure model. Hear how customers’ challenges across industries can be addressed in any compute environment from the cloud to the edge with end-to-end hardware and software optimization.
Kavitha Prasad
VP & GM, Datacenter, AI and Cloud Execution and Strategy, Intel Corporation
Decision making has moved from the edge to the cloud before settling into a hybrid setup for many AI systems. Through the examination of key use-cases, take a deep dive into understanding the benefits and detractors of operating a machine-learning system at the point of inference.
Enable your organization to transform customer experiences through AI at the edge. Learn about the required technologies, including teachable and self-learning AI, that are needed for a successful shift to the edge, and hear how deploying these technologies at scale can unlock richer, more responsive experiences.
Reimagine AI solutions as a unified system, instead of individual components. Through the lens of autonomous vehicles, discover the pros and cons of using an all-inclusive AI-first approach that includes AI decision-making at the edge and see how this thinking can be applied across industry.
Raquel Urtasun
Founder & CEO, Waabi
Mainstage Break (3:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.)
Networking and refreshments for our live audience and a selection of curated content for those tuning in virtually.
Advances in machine learning are enabling artists and creative technologists to think about and use AI in new ways. Discuss the concept of creative AI and look at project examples from London’s art scene that illustrate the various ways creative AI is bridging the gap between the traditional art world and the latest technological innovations.
Luba Elliott
Curator, Producer, and Researcher, Creative AI
Generative AI Solutions (3:45 p.m. – 5:10 p.m.)
The use of generative AI to boost human creativity is breaking boundaries in creative areas previously untouched by AI. We explore the intersection of data and algorithms enabling collaborative AI processes to design and create.
Change the design problem with AI. The creative nature of generative AI enhances design capabilities, finding efficiencies and opportunities that humans alone might not conceive. Explore business applications including project planning, construction, and physical design.
Deep learning is data hungry technology. Manually labelled training data has become cost prohibitive and time-consuming. Get a glimpse at how interactive large-scale synthetic data generation can accelerate the AI revolution, unlocking the potential of data-driven artificial intelligence.
Danny Lange
SVP of Artificial Intelligence, Unity Technologies
Push beyond the typical uses of AI. Explore the nexus of art, technology, and human creativity through the unique innovation of kinetic data sculptures that use machines to give physical context and shape to data to rethink how we engage with the physical world.
Refik Anadol
CEO, RAS Lab; Lecturer, UCLA
Last Call with the Editors (5:10 p.m. – 5:20 p.m.)
Before we wrap day 1, join our last call with all of our editors to get their analysis on the day’s topics, themes, and guests.
Networking Reception (5:20 p.m. – 6:20 p.m.)
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30
Evolving the Algorithms
What’s Next for Deep Learning
Deep learning algorithms have powered most major AI advances of the last decade. We bring you into the top innovation labs to see how they are advancing their deep learning models to find out just how much more we can get out of these algorithms.
AI in Day-To-Day Business
Many organizations are already using AI internally in their day-to-day operations, in areas like cybersecurity, customer service, finance, and manufacturing. We examine the tools that organizations are using when putting AI to work.
Making AI Work for All
As AI increasingly underpins our lives, businesses, and society, we must ensure that AI must work for everyone – not just those represented in datasets, and not just 80% of the time. Examine the challenges and solutions needed to ensure AI works fairly, for all.
Envisioning the Next AI
Some business problems can’t be solved with current deep learning methods. We look at what’s around the corner at the new approaches and most revolutionary ideas propelling us toward the next stage in AI evolution.
Day 2: Evolving the Algorithms (9:00 a.m. – 5:25 p.m.)
What’s Next for Deep Learning (9:10 a.m. – 10:25 a.m.)
Deep learning algorithms have powered most major AI advances of the last decade. We bring you into the top innovation labs to see how they are advancing their deep learning models to find out just how much more we can get out of these algorithms.
Transformer-based language models are revolutionizing the way neural networks process natural language. This deep dive looks at how organizations can put their data to work using transformer models. We consider the problems that business may face as these massive models mature, including training needs, managing parallel processing at scale, and countering offensive data.
Critical thinking may be one step closer for AI by combining large-scale transformers with smart sampling and filtering. Get an early look at how AlphaCode’s entry into competitive programming may lead to a human-like capacity for AI to write original code that solves unforeseen problems.
As advanced AI systems gain greater capabilities in our search for artificial general intelligence, it’s critical to teach them how to understand human intentions. Look at the latest advancements in AI systems and how to ensure they can be truthful, helpful, and safe.
Mira Murati
SVP, Research, Product, & Partnerships, OpenAI
Mainstage Break (10:25 a.m. – 10:55 a.m.)
Networking and refreshments for our live audience and a selection of curated content for those tuning in virtually.
Good data is the bedrock of a self-service data consumption model, which in turn unlocks insights, analytics, personalization at scale through AI. Yet many organizations face immense challenges setting up a robust data foundation. Dive into a pragmatic perspective on abstracting the complexity and untangling the conflicts in data management for better AI.
Naveen Kamat
Executive Director, Data and AI Services, Kyndryl
AI in Day-To-Day Business (10:55 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.)
Many organizations are already using AI internally in their day-to-day operations, in areas like cybersecurity, customer service, finance, and manufacturing. We examine the tools that organizations are using when putting AI to work.
Effectively operationalized AI/ML can unlock untapped potential in your organization. From enhancing internal processes to managing the customer experience, get the pragmatic advice and takeaways leaders need to better understand their internal data to achieve impactful results.
Use AI to maximize reliability of supply chains. Learn the dos and don’ts to managing key processes within your supply chain, including workforce management, streamlining and simplification, and reaping the full value of your supply chain solutions.
Darcy MacClaren
Senior Vice President, Digital Supply Chain, SAP North America
Machine and reinforcement learning enable Spotify to deliver the right content to the right listener at the right time, allowing for personalized listening experiences that facilitate discovery at a global scale. Through user interactions, algorithms suggest new content and creators that keep customers both happy and engaged with the platform. Dive into the details of making better user recommendations.
Tony Jebara
VP of Engineering and Head of Machine Learning, Spotify
Lunch and Networking Break (12:20 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.)
Lunch served at the MIT Media Lab and a selection of curated content for those tuning in virtually.
Making AI Work for All (1:15 p.m. – 2:35 p.m.)
As AI increasingly underpins our lives, businesses, and society, we must ensure that AI must work for everyone – not just those represented in datasets, and not just 80% of the time. Examine the challenges and solutions needed to ensure AI works fairly, for all.
Walk through the practical steps to map and understand the nuances, outliers, and special cases in datasets. Get tips to ensure ethical and trustworthy approaches to training AI systems that grow in scope and scale within a business.
Lauren Bennett
Group Software Engineering Lead, Spatial Analysis and Data Science, Esri
Get an inside look at the long- and short-term benefits of addressing inequities in AI opportunities, ranging from educating the tech youth of the future to a 10,000-foot view on what it will take to ensure that equity top is of mind within society and business alike.
Public policies can help to make AI more equitable and ethical for all. Examine how policies could impact corporations and what it means for building internal policies, regardless of what government adopts. Identify actionable ideas to best move policies forward for the widest benefit to all.
Nicol Turner Lee
Director, Center for Technology Innovation, Brookings Institution
Mainstage Break (2:35 p.m. – 3:05 p.m.)
Networking and refreshments for our live audience and a selection of curated content for those tuning in virtually.
From the U.S. to China, the global robo-taxi race is gaining traction with consumers and regulators alike. Go behind the scenes with AutoX – a Level 4 driving technology company – and hear how it overcame obstacles while launching the world’s second and China’s first public, fully driverless robo-taxi service.
Jianxiong Xiao
Founder and CEO, AutoX
Envisioning the Next AI (3:05 p.m. – 4:50 p.m.)
Some business problems can’t be solved with current deep learning methods. We look at what’s around the corner at the new approaches and most revolutionary ideas propelling us toward the next stage in AI evolution.
The use of AI in finance is gaining traction as organizations realize the advantages of using algorithms to streamline and improve the accuracy of financial tasks. Step through use cases that examine how AI can be used to minimize financial risk, maximize financial returns, optimize venture capital funding by connecting entrepreneurs to the right investors; and more.
Sameena Shah
Managing Director, J.P. Morgan AI Research, JP Morgan Chase
In a study of simulated robotic evolution, it was observed that more complex environments and evolutionary changes to the robot’s physical form accelerated the growth of robot intelligence. Examine this cutting-edge research and decipher what this early discovery means for the next generation of AI and robotics.
Agrim Gupta
PhD Student, Stanford Vision and Learning Lab, Stanford University
Understanding human thinking and reasoning processes could lead to more general, flexible and human-like artificial intelligence. Take a close look at the research building AI inspired by human common-sense that could create a new generation of tools for complex decision-making.
Zenna Tavares
Research Scientist, Columbia University; Co-Founder, Basis
Look under the hood at this innovative approach to AI learning with multi-agent and human-AI interactions. Discover how bots work together and learn together through personal interactions. Recognize the future implications for AI, plus the benefits and obstacles that may come from this new process.
David Ferrucci was the principal investigator for the team that led IBM Watson to its landmark Jeopardy success, awakening the world to the possibilities of AI. We pull back the curtain on AI for a wide-ranging discussion on explicable models, and the next generation of human and machine collaboration creating AI thought partners with limitless applications.
2021 Virtual World Medical Innovation Forum, Mass General Brigham, Gene and Cell Therapy, VIRTUAL May 19–21, 2021
The 2021 Virtual World Medical Innovation Forum will focus on the growing impact of gene and cell therapy. Senior healthcare leaders from all over look to shape and debate the area of gene and cell therapy. Our shared belief: no matter the magnitude of change, responsible healthcare is centered on a shared commitment to collaborative innovation–industry, academia, and practitioners working together to improve patients’ lives.
About the World Medical Innovation Forum
Mass General Brigham is pleased to present the World Medical Innovation Forum (WMIF) virtual event Wednesday, May 19 – Friday, May 21. This interactive web event features expert discussions of gene and cell therapy (GCT) and its potential to change the future of medicine through its disease-treating and potentially curative properties. The agenda features 150+ executive speakers from the healthcare industry, venture, startups, life sciences manufacturing, consumer health and the front lines of care, including many Harvard Medical School-affiliated researchers and clinicians. The annual in-person Forum will resume live in Boston in 2022. The World Medical Innovation Forum is presented by Mass General Brigham Innovation, the global business development unit supporting the research requirements of 7,200 Harvard Medical School faculty and research hospitals including Massachusetts General, Brigham and Women’s, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Spaulding Rehab and McLean Hospital. Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/@MGBInnovation
Accelerating the Future of Medicine with Gene and Cell Therapy What Comes Next
Co-Chairs identify the key themes of the Forum – set the stage for top GCT opportunities, challenges, and where the field might take medicine in the future. Moderator: Susan Hockfield, PhD
President Emerita and Professor of Neuroscience, MIT
Hope that CGT emerging, how the therapies work, neuro, muscular, ocular, genetic diseases of liver and of heart revolution for the industry 900 IND application 25 approvals Economic driver Skilled works, VC disease. Modality one time intervention, long duration of impart, reimbursement, ecosystem to be built around CGT
FDA works by indications and risks involved, Standards and expectations for streamlining manufacturing, understanding of process and products
payments over time payers and Innovators relations Moderator: Julian Harris, MD
Partner, Deerfield
Promise of CGT realized, what part?
FDA role and interaction in CGT
Manufacturing aspects which is critical Speaker: Dave Lennon, PhD
President, Novartis Gene Therapies
Hope that CGT emerging, how the therapies work, neuro, muscular, ocular, genetic diseases of liver and of heart revolution for the industry 900 IND application 25 approvals Economic driver Skilled works, VC disease. Modality one time intervention, long duration of impart, reimbursement, ecosystem to be built around CGT
FDA works by indications and risks involved, Standards and expectations for streamlining manufacturing, understanding of process and products
payments over time payers and Innovators relations
GCT development for rare diseases is driven by patient and patient-advocate communities. Understanding their needs and perspectives enables biomarker research, the development of value-driving clinical trial endpoints and successful clinical trials. Industry works with patient communities that help identify unmet needs and collaborate with researchers to conduct disease natural history studies that inform the development of biomarkers and trial endpoints. This panel includes patients who have received cutting-edge GCT therapy as well as caregivers and patient advocates. Moderator: Patricia Musolino, MD, PhD
Co-Director Pediatric Stroke and Cerebrovascular Program, MGH
Assistant Professor of Neurology, HMS
What is the Power of One – the impact that a patient can have on their own destiny by participating in Clinical Trials Contacting other participants in same trial can be beneficial Speakers: Jack Hogan
Parkinson patient Constraints by regulatory on participation in clinical trial advance stage is approved participation Patients to determine the level of risk they wish to take Information dissemination is critical Barbara Lavery
Chief Program Officer, ACGT Foundation
Advocacy agency beginning of work Global Genes educational content and out reach to access the information
Patient has the knowledge of the symptoms and recording all input needed for diagnosis by multiple clinicians Early application for CGTDan Tesler
Clinical Trial Patient, BWH/DFCC
Experimental Drug clinical trial patient participation in clinical trial is very important to advance the state of scienceSarah Beth Thomas, RN
Professional Development Manager, BWH
Outcome is unknown, hope for good, support with resources all advocacy groups,
Process at FDA generalize from 1st entry to rules more generalizable Speaker: Peter Marks, MD, PhD
Director, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, FDA
Last Spring it became clear that something will work a vaccine by June 2020 belief that enough candidates the challenge manufacture enough and scaling up FDA did not predicted the efficacy of mRNA vaccine vs other approaches expected to work
Recover Work load for the pandemic will wean & clear, Gene Therapies IND application remained flat in the face of the pandemic Rare diseases urgency remains Consensus with industry advisory to get input gene therapy Guidance T-Cell therapy vs Regulation best thinking CGT evolve speedily flexible gained by Guidance
Immune modulators, Immunotherapy Genome editing can make use of viral vectors future technologies nanoparticles and liposome encapsulation
big pharma has portfolios of therapeutics not one drug across Tx areas: cell, gene iodine therapy
collective learning infrastructure features manufacturing at scale early in development Acquisitions strategy for growth # applications for scaling Rick Modi
CEO, Affinia Therapeutics
Copy, paste EDIT from product A to B novel vectors leverage knowledge varient of vector, coder optimization choice of indication is critical exploration on larger populations Speed to R&D and Speed to better gene construct get to clinic with better design vs ASAP
Data sharing clinical experience with vectors strategies patients selection, vector selection, mitigation, patient type specific Louise Rodino-Klapac, PhD
AAV based platform 15 years in development same disease indication vs more than one indication stereotype, analytics as hurdle 1st was 10 years 2nd was 3 years
Safety to clinic vs speed to clinic, difference of vectors to trust
Recent AAV gene therapy product approvals have catalyzed the field. This new class of therapies has shown the potential to bring transformative benefit to patients. With dozens of AAV treatments in clinical studies, all eyes are on the field to gauge its disruptive impact.
The panel assesses the largest challenges of the first two products, the lessons learned for the broader CGT field, and the extent to which they serve as a precedent to broaden the AAV modality.
Is AAV gene therapy restricted to genetically defined disorders, or will it be able to address common diseases in the near term?
Lessons learned from these first-in-class approvals.
Challenges to broaden this modality to similar indications.
Reflections on safety signals in the clinical studies?
Tissue types additional administrations, tech and science, address additional diseases, more science for photoreceptors a different tissue type underlying pathology novelties in last 10 years
Laxterna success to be replicated platform, paradigms measurement visual improved
More science is needed to continue develop vectors reduce toxicity,
AAV can deliver different cargos reduce adverse events improve vectorsRon Philip
Chief Operating Officer, Spark Therapeutics
The first retinal gene therapy, voretigene neparvovec-rzyl (Luxturna, Spark Therapeutics), was approved by the FDA in 2017.Meredith Schultz, MD
Executive Medical Director, Lead TME, Novartis Gene Therapies
Impact of cell therapy beyond muscular dystrophy, translational medicine, each indication, each disease, each group of patients build platform unlock the promise
Monitoring for Safety signals real world evidence remote markers, home visits, clinical trial made safer, better communication of information
AAV a complex driver in Pharmacology durable, vector of choice, administer in vitro, gene editing tissue specificity, pharmacokinetics side effects and adverse events manufacturability site variation diversify portfolios,
This panel will address the advances in the area of AAV gene therapy delivery looking out the next five years. Questions that loom large are: How can biodistribution of AAV be improved? What solutions are in the wings to address immunogenicity of AAV? Will patients be able to receive systemic redosing of AAV-based gene therapies in the future? What technical advances are there for payload size? Will the cost of manufacturing ever become affordable for ultra-rare conditions? Will non-viral delivery completely supplant viral delivery within the next five years?What are the safety concerns and how will they be addressed? Moderators: Xandra Breakefield, PhD
Ataxia requires therapy targeting multiple organ with one therapy, brain, spinal cord, heart several IND, clinical trials in 2022Mathew Pletcher, PhD
SVP, Head of Gene Therapy Research and Technical Operations, Astellas
Work with diseases poorly understood, collaborations needs example of existing: DMD is a great example explain dystrophin share placedo data
Continue to explore large animal guinea pig not the mice, not primates (ethical issues) for understanding immunogenicity and immune response Manny Simons, PhD
CEO, Akouos
AAV Therapy for the fluid of the inner ear, CGT for the ear vector accessible to surgeons translational work on the inner ear for gene therapy right animal model
Biology across species nerve ending in the cochlea
engineer out of the caspid, lowest dose possible, get desired effect by vector use, 2022 new milestones
The GCT M&A market is booming – many large pharmas have made at least one significant acquisition. How should we view the current GCT M&A market? What is its impact of the current M&A market on technology development? Are these M&A trends new are just another cycle? Has pharma strategy shifted and, if so, what does it mean for GCT companies? What does it mean for patients? What are the long-term prospects – can valuations hold up? Moderator: Adam Koppel, MD, PhD
Managing Director, Bain Capital Life Sciences
What acquirers are looking for??
What is the next generation vs what is real where is the industry going? Speakers:
Debby Baron,
Worldwide Business Development, Pfizer
CGT is an important area Pfizer is active looking for innovators, advancing forward programs of innovation with the experience Pfizer has internally
Scalability and manufacturing regulatory conversations, clinical programs safety in parallel to planning getting drug to patients
ALS – Man 1in 300, Women 1 in 400, next decade increase 7%
10% ALS is heredity 160 pharma in ALS space, diagnosis is late 1/3 of people are not diagnosed, active community for clinical trials Challenges: disease heterogeneity cases of 10 years late in diagnosis. Clinical Trials for ALS in Gene Therapy targeting ASO1 protein therapies FUS gene struck youngsters
Cell therapy for ACTA2 Vasculopathy in the brain and control the BP and stroke – smooth muscle intima proliferation. Viral vector deliver aiming to change platform to non-viral delivery rare disease , gene editing, other mutations of ACTA2 gene target other pathway for atherosclerosis
Oncolytic viruses represent a powerful new technology, but so far an FDA-approved oncolytic (Imlygic) has only occurred in one area – melanoma and that what is in 2015. This panel involves some of the protagonists of this early success story. They will explore why and how Imlygic became approved and its path to commercialization. Yet, no other cancer indications exist for Imlygic, unlike the expansion of FDA-approved indication for immune checkpoint inhibitors to multiple cancers. Why? Is there a limitation to what and which cancers can target? Is the mode of administration a problem?
No other oncolytic virus therapy has been approved since 2015. Where will the next success story come from and why? Will these therapies only be beneficial for skin cancers or other easily accessible cancers based on intratumoral delivery?
The panel will examine whether the preclinical models that have been developed for other cancer treatment modalities will be useful for oncolytic viruses. It will also assess the extent pre-clinical development challenges have slowed the development of OVs. Moderator: Nino Chiocca, MD, PhD
Neurosurgeon-in-Chief and Chairman, Neurosurgery, BWH
Harvey W. Cushing Professor of Neurosurgery, HMS
Challenges of manufacturing at Amgen what are they? Speakers: Robert Coffin, PhD
Chief Research & Development Officer, Replimune
2002 in UK promise in oncolytic therapy GNCSF
Phase III melanoma 2015 M&A with Amgen
oncolytic therapy remains non effecting on immune response
data is key for commercialization
do not belief in systemic therapy achieve maximum immune response possible from a tumor by localized injection Roger Perlmutter, MD, PhD
Chairman, Merck & Co.
response rates systemic therapy like PD1, Keytruda, OPTIVA well tolerated combination of Oncolytic with systemic
Physician, Dana Farber-Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center
Assistant Professor of Medicine, HMS
Which person gets oncolytics virus if patient has immune suppression due to other indications
Safety of oncolytic virus greater than Systemic treatment
series biopsies for injected and non injected tissue and compare Suspect of hot tumor and cold tumors likely to have sme response to agent unknown all potential
There are currently two oncolytic virus products on the market, one in the USA and one in China. As of late 2020, there were 86 clinical trials 60 of which were in phase I with just 2 in Phase III the rest in Phase I/II or Phase II. Although global sales of OVs are still in the ramp-up phase, some projections forecast OVs will be a $700 million market by 2026. This panel will address some of the major questions in this area:
What regulatory challenges will keep OVs from realizing their potential? Despite the promise of OVs for treating cancer only one has been approved in the US. Why has this been the case? Reasons such have viral tropism, viral species selection and delivery challenges have all been cited. However, these are also true of other modalities. Why then have oncolytic virus approaches not advanced faster and what are the primary challenges to be overcome?
Will these need to be combined with other agents to realize their full efficacy and how will that impact the market?
Why are these companies pursuing OVs while several others are taking a pass?
In 2020 there were a total of 60 phase I trials for Oncolytic Viruses. There are now dozens of companies pursuing some aspect of OV technology. This panel will address:
How are small companies equipped to address the challenges of developing OV therapies better than large pharma or biotech?
Will the success of COVID vaccines based on Adenovirus help the regulatory environment for small companies developing OV products in Europe and the USA?
Is there a place for non-viral delivery and other immunotherapy companies to engage in the OV space? Would they bring any real advantages?
Systemic delivery Oncolytic Virus IV delivery woman in remission
Collaboration with Regeneron
Data collection: Imageable reporter secretable reporter, gene expression
Field is intense systemic oncolytic delivery is exciting in mice and in human, response rates are encouraging combination immune stimulant, check inhibitors
Few areas of potential cancer therapy have had the attention and excitement of CAR-T. This panel of leading executives, developers, and clinician-scientists will explore the current state of CAR-T and its future prospects. Among the questions to be addressed are:
Is CAR-T still an industry priority – i.e. are new investments being made by large companies? Are new companies being financed? What are the trends?
What have we learned from first-generation products, what can we expect from CAR-T going forward in novel targets, combinations, armored CAR’s and allogeneic treatment adoption?
Early trials showed remarkable overall survival and progression-free survival. What has been observed regarding how enduring these responses are?
Most of the approvals to date have targeted CD19, and most recently BCMA. What are the most common forms of relapses that have been observed?
Is there a consensus about what comes after these CD19 and BCMA trials as to additional targets in liquid tumors? How have dual-targeted approaches fared?
The potential application of CAR-T in solid tumors will be a game-changer if it occurs. The panel explores the prospects of solid tumor success and what the barriers have been. Questions include:
How would industry and investor strategy for CAR-T and solid tumors be characterized? Has it changed in the last couple of years?
Does the lack of tumor antigen specificity in solid tumors mean that lessons from liquid tumor CAR-T constructs will not translate well and we have to start over?
Whether due to antigen heterogeneity, a hostile tumor micro-environment, or other factors are some specific solid tumors more attractive opportunities than others for CAR-T therapy development?
Given the many challenges that CAR-T faces in solid tumors, does the use of combination therapies from the start, for example, to mitigate TME effects, offer a more compelling opportunity.
Executive Director, Head of Cell Therapy Research, Exploratory Immuno-Oncology, NIBR
2017 CAR-T first approval
M&A and research collaborations
TCR tumor specific antigens avoid tissue toxicity Knut Niss, PhD
CTO, Mustang Bio
tumor hot start in 12 month clinical trial solid tumors , theraties not ready yet. Combination therapy will be an experimental treatment long journey checkpoint inhibitors to be used in combination maintenance Lipid tumor Barbra Sasu, PhD
CSO, Allogene
T cell response at prostate cancer
tumor specific
cytokine tumor specific signals move from solid to metastatic cell type for easier infiltration
Where we might go: safety autologous and allogeneic Jay Short, PhD
Chairman, CEO, Cofounder, BioAlta, Inc.
Tumor type is not enough for development of therapeutics other organs are involved in the periphery
difficult to penetrate solid tumors biologics activated in the tumor only, positive changes surrounding all charges, water molecules inside the tissue acidic environment target the cells inside the tumor and not outside
The modes of GCT manufacturing have the potential of fundamentally reordering long-established roles and pathways. While complexity goes up the distance from discovery to deployment shrinks. With the likelihood of a total market for cell therapies to be over $48 billion by 2027, groups of products are emerging. Stem cell therapies are projected to be $28 billion by 2027 and non-stem cell therapies such as CAR-T are projected be $20 billion by 2027. The manufacturing challenges for these two large buckets are very different. Within the CAR-T realm there are diverging trends of autologous and allogeneic therapies and the demands on manufacturing infrastructure are very different. Questions for the panelists are:
Help us all understand the different manufacturing challenges for cell therapies. What are the trade-offs among storage cost, batch size, line changes in terms of production cost and what is the current state of scaling naïve and stem cell therapy treatment vs engineered cell therapies?
For cell and gene therapy what is the cost of Quality Assurance/Quality Control vs. production and how do you think this will trend over time based on your perspective on learning curves today?
Will point of care production become a reality? How will that change product development strategy for pharma and venture investors? What would be the regulatory implications for such products?
How close are allogeneic CAR-T cell therapies? If successful what are the market implications of allogenic CAR-T? What are the cost implications and rewards for developing allogeneic cell therapy treatments?
Global Head of Product Development, Gene & Cell Therapy, Catalent
2/3 autologous 1/3 allogeneic CAR-T high doses and high populations scale up is not done today quality maintain required the timing logistics issues centralized vs decentralized allogeneic are health donors innovations in cell types in use improvements in manufacturing
China embraced gene and cell therapies early. The first China gene therapy clinical trial was in 1991. China approved the world’s first gene therapy product in 2003—Gendicine—an oncolytic adenovirus for the treatment of advanced head and neck cancer. Driven by broad national strategy, China has become a hotbed of GCT development, ranking second in the world with more than 1,000 clinical trials either conducted or underway and thousands of related patents. It has a booming GCT biotech sector, led by more than 45 local companies with growing IND pipelines.
In late 1990, a T cell-based immunotherapy, cytokine-induced killer (CIK) therapy became a popular modality in the clinic in China for tumor treatment. In early 2010, Chinese researchers started to carry out domestic CAR T trials inspired by several important reports suggested the great antitumor function of CAR T cells. Now, China became the country with the most registered CAR T trials, CAR T therapy is flourishing in China.
The Chinese GCT ecosystem has increasingly rich local innovation and growing complement of development and investment partnerships – and also many subtleties.
This panel, consisting of leaders from the China GCT corporate, investor, research and entrepreneurial communities, will consider strategic questions on the growth of the gene and cell therapy industry in China, areas of greatest strength, evolving regulatory framework, early successes and products expected to reach the US and world market. Moderator: Min Wu, PhD
Managing Director, Fosun Health Fund
What are the area of CGT in China, regulatory similar to the US Speakers: Alvin Luk, PhD
CEO, Neuropath Therapeutics
Monogenic rare disease with clear genomic target
Increase of 30% in patient enrollment
Regulatory reform approval is 60 days no delayPin Wang, PhD
CSO, Jiangsu Simcere Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Similar starting point in CGT as the rest of the World unlike a later starting point in other biologicalRichard Wang, PhD
CEO, Fosun Kite Biotechnology Co., Ltd
Possibilities to be creative and capitalize the new technologies for innovating drug
Support of the ecosystem by funding new companie allowing the industry to be developed in China
Autologous in patients differences cost challengeTian Xu, PhD
Vice President, Westlake University
ICH committee and Chinese FDA -r regulation similar to the US
Difference is the population recruitment, in China patients are active participants in skin disease
Active in development of transposome
Development of non-viral methods, CRISPR still in D and transposome
In China price of drugs regulatory are sensitive Shunfei Yan, PhD
The COVID vaccine race has propelled mRNA to the forefront of biomedicine. Long considered as a compelling modality for therapeutic gene transfer, the technology may have found its most impactful application as a vaccine platform. Given the transformative industrialization, the massive human experience, and the fast development that has taken place in this industry, where is the horizon? Does the success of the vaccine application, benefit or limit its use as a therapeutic for CGT?
How will the COVID success impact the rest of the industry both in therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines and broader mRNA lessons?
How will the COVID success impact the rest of the industry both on therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines and broader mRNA lessons?
Beyond from speed of development, what aspects make mRNA so well suited as a vaccine platform?
Will cost-of-goods be reduced as the industry matures?
How does mRNA technology seek to compete with AAV and other gene therapy approaches?
Many years of mRNA pivoting for new diseases, DARPA, nucleic Acids global deployment of a manufacturing unit on site where the need arise Elan Musk funds new directions at Moderna
How many mRNA can be put in one vaccine: Dose and tolerance to achieve efficacy
45 days for Personalized cancer vaccine one per patient
Hemophilia has been and remains a hallmark indication for the CGT. Given its well-defined biology, larger market, and limited need for gene transfer to provide therapeutic benefit, it has been at the forefront of clinical development for years, however, product approval remains elusive. What are the main hurdles to this success? Contrary to many indications that CGT pursues no therapeutic options are available to patients, hemophiliacs have an increasing number of highly efficacious treatment options. How does the competitive landscape impact this field differently than other CGT fields? With many different players pursuing a gene therapy option for hemophilia, what are the main differentiators? Gene therapy for hemophilia seems compelling for low and middle-income countries, given the cost of currently available treatments; does your company see opportunities in this market? Moderator: Nancy Berliner, MD
Safety concerns, high burden of treatment CGT has record of safety and risk/benefit adoption of Tx functional cure CGT is potent Tx relative small quantity of protein needs be delivered
Potency and quality less quantity drug and greater potency
risk of delivery unwanted DNA, capsules are critical
analytics is critical regulator involvement in potency definition
Director, Center for Rare Neurological Diseases, MGH
Associate Professor, Neurology, HMS
Single gene disorder NGS enable diagnosis, DIagnosis to Treatment How to know whar cell to target, make it available and scale up Address gap: missing components Biomarkers to cell types lipid chemistry cell animal biology
crosswalk from bone marrow matter
New gene discovered that causes neurodevelopment of stagnant genes Examining new Biology cell type specific biomarkers
The American Diabetes Association estimates 30 million Americans have diabetes and 1.5 million are diagnosed annually. GCT offers the prospect of long-sought treatment for this enormous cohort and their chronic requirements. The complexity of the disease and its management constitute a grand challenge and highlight both the potential of GCT and its current limitations.
Islet transplantation for type 1 diabetes has been attempted for decades. Problems like loss of transplanted islet cells due to autoimmunity and graft site factors have been difficult to address. Is there anything different on the horizon for gene and cell therapies to help this be successful?
How is the durability of response for gene or cell therapies for diabetes being addressed? For example, what would the profile of an acceptable (vs. optimal) cell therapy look like?
Advanced made, Patient of Type 1 Outer and Inner compartments of spheres (not capsule) no immune suppression continuous secretion of enzyme Insulin independence without immune suppression
Volume to have of-the-shelf inventory oxegenation in location lymphatic and vascularization conrol the whole process modular platform learning from others
Keep eyes open, waiting the Pandemic to end and enable working back on all the indications
Portfolio of MET, Mimi Emerging Therapies
Learning from the Pandemic – operationalize the practice science, R&D leaders, new collaboratives at NIH, FDA, Novartis
Pursue programs that will yield growth, tropic diseases with Gates Foundation, Rising Tide pods for access CGT within Novartis Partnership with UPenn in Cell Therapy
Cost to access to IP from Academia to a Biotech CRISPR accessing few translations to Clinic
Protein degradation organization constraint valuation by parties in a partnership
Novartis: nuclear protein lipid nuclear particles, tamplate for Biotech to collaborate
Game changing: 10% of the Portfolio, New frontiers human genetics in Ophthalmology, CAR-T, CRISPR, Gene Therapy Neurological and payloads of different matter
The Voice of Dr. Seidman – Her abstract is cited below
The ultimate opportunity presented by discovering the genetic basis of human disease is accurate prediction and disease prevention. To enable this achievement, genetic insights must enable the identification of at-risk
individuals prior to end-stage disease manifestations and strategies that delay or prevent clinical expression. Genetic cardiomyopathies provide a paradigm for fulfilling these opportunities. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is characterized by left ventricular hypertrophy, diastolic dysfunction with normal or enhanced systolic performance and a unique histopathology: myocyte hypertrophy, disarray and fibrosis. Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) exhibits enlarged ventricular volumes with depressed systolic performance and nonspecific histopathology. Both HCM and DCM are prevalent clinical conditions that increase risk for arrhythmias, sudden death, and heart failure. Today treatments for HCM and DCM focus on symptoms, but none prevent disease progression. Human molecular genetic studies demonstrated that these pathologies often result from dominant mutations in genes that encode protein components of the sarcomere, the contractile unit in striated muscles. These data combined with the emergence of molecular strategies to specifically modulate gene expression provide unparalleled opportunities to silence or correct mutant genes and to boost healthy gene expression in patients with genetic HCM and DCM. Many challenges remain, but the active and vital efforts of physicians, researchers, and patients are poised to ensure success.
Cyprus Island, kidney disease by mutation causing MUC1 accumulation and death BRD4780 molecule that will clear the misfolding proteins from the kidney organoids: pleuripotent stem cells small molecule developed for applications in the other cell types in brain, eye, gene mutation build mechnism for therapy clinical models transition from Academia to biotech
One of the most innovative segments in all of healthcare is the development of GCT driven therapies for rare and ultra-rare diseases. Driven by a series of insights and tools and funded in part by disease focused foundations, philanthropists and abundant venture funding disease after disease is yielding to new GCT technology. These often become platforms to address more prevalent diseases. The goal of making these breakthroughs routine and affordable is challenged by a range of issues including clinical trial design and pricing.
What is driving the interest in rare diseases?
What are the biggest barriers to making breakthroughs ‘routine and affordable?’
What is the role of retrospective and prospective natural history studies in rare disease? When does the expected value of retrospective disease history studies justify the cost?
Related to the first question, what is the FDA expecting as far as controls in clinical trials for rare diseases? How does this impact the collection of natural history data?
The power of GCT to cure disease has the prospect of profoundly improving the lives of patients who respond. Planning for a disruption of this magnitude is complex and challenging as it will change care across the spectrum. Leading chief executives shares perspectives on how the industry will change and how this change should be anticipated. Moderator: Meg Tirrell
Senior Health and Science Reporter, CNBC
CGT becoming staple therapy what are the disruptors emerging Speakers: Lisa Dechamps
SVP & Chief Business Officer, Novartis Gene Therapies
Reimagine medicine with collaboration at MGH, MDM condition in children
The Science is there, sustainable processes and systems impact is transformational
Value based pricing, risk sharing Payers and Pharma for one time therapy with life span effect
Head, Pharmaceuticals Research & Development, Bayer AG
CGT – 2016 and in 2020 new leadership and capability
Disease Biology and therapeutics
Regenerative Medicine: CGT vs repair building pipeline in ophthalmology and cardiovascular
During Pandemic: Deliver Medicines like Moderna, Pfizer – collaborations between competitors with Government Bayer entered into Vaccines in 5 days, all processes had to change access innovations developed over decades for medical solutions
GCT represents a large and growing market for novel therapeutics that has several segments. These include Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, Neurological Diseases, Infectious Disease, Ophthalmology, Benign Blood Disorders, and many others; Manufacturing and Supply Chain including CDMO’s and CMO’s; Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine; Tools and Platforms (viral vectors, nano delivery, gene editing, etc.). Bayer’s pharma business participates in virtually all of these segments. How does a Company like Bayer approach the development of a portfolio in a space as large and as diverse as this one? How does Bayer approach the support of the production infrastructure with unique demands and significant differences from its historical requirements? Moderator:
EVP, Pharmaceuticals, Head of Cell & Gene Therapy, Bayer AG
CGT will bring treatment to cure, delivery of therapies
Be a Leader repair, regenerate, cure
Technology and Science for CGT – building a portfolio vs single asset decision criteria development of IP market access patients access acceleration of new products
Bayer strategy: build platform for use by four domains
Gener augmentation
Autologeneic therapy, analytics
Gene editing
Oncology Cell therapy tumor treatment: What kind of cells – the jury is out
Of 23 product launch at Bayer no prediction is possible some high some lows
Gene delivery uses physical, chemical, or viral means to introduce genetic material into cells. As more genetically modified therapies move closer to the market, challenges involving safety, efficacy, and manufacturing have emerged. Optimizing lipidic and polymer nanoparticles and exosomal delivery is a short-term priority. This panel will examine how the short-term and long-term challenges are being tackled particularly for non-viral delivery modalities. Moderator: Natalie Artzi, PhD
Gene editing was recognized by the Nobel Committee as “one of gene technology’s sharpest tools, having a revolutionary impact on life sciences.” Introduced in 2011, gene editing is used to modify DNA. It has applications across almost all categories of disease and is also being used in agriculture and public health.
Today’s panel is made up of pioneers who represent foundational aspects of gene editing. They will discuss the movement of the technology into the therapeutic mainstream.
Successes in gene editing – lessons learned from late-stage assets (sickle cell, ophthalmology)
When to use what editing tool – pros and cons of traditional gene-editing v. base editing. Is prime editing the future? Specific use cases for epigenetic editing.
When we reach widespread clinical use – role of off-target editing – is the risk real? How will we mitigate? How practical is patient-specific off-target evaluation?
There are several dozen companies working to develop gene or cell therapies for Sickle Cell Disease, Beta Thalassemia, and Fanconi Anemia. In some cases, there are enzyme replacement therapies that are deemed effective and safe. In other cases, the disease is only managed at best. This panel will address a number of questions that are particular to this class of genetic diseases:
What are the pros and cons of various strategies for treatment? There are AAV-based editing, non-viral delivery even oligonucleotide recruitment of endogenous editing/repair mechanisms. Which approaches are most appropriate for which disease?
How can companies increase the speed of recruitment for clinical trials when other treatments are available? What is the best approach to educate patients on a novel therapeutic?
How do we best address ethnic and socio-economic diversity to be more representative of the target patient population?
How long do we have to follow up with the patients from the scientific, patient’s community, and payer points of view? What are the current FDA and EMA guidelines for long-term follow-up?
Where are we with regards to surrogate endpoints and their application to clinically meaningful endpoints?
What are the emerging ethical dilemmas in pediatric gene therapy research? Are there challenges with informed consent and pediatric assent for trial participation?
Are there differences in reimbursement policies for these different blood disorders? Clearly durability of response is a big factor. Are there other considerations?
Oligonucleotide drugs have recently come into their own with approvals from companies such as Biogen, Alnylam, Novartis and others. This panel will address several questions:
How important is the delivery challenge for oligonucleotides? Are technological advancements emerging that will improve the delivery of oligonucleotides to the CNS or skeletal muscle after systemic administration?
Will oligonucleotides improve as a class that will make them even more effective? Are further advancements in backbone chemistry anticipated, for example.
Will oligonucleotide based therapies blaze trails for follow-on gene therapy products?
Are small molecules a threat to oligonucleotide-based therapies?
Beyond exon skipping and knock-down mechanisms, what other roles will oligonucleotide-based therapies take mechanistically — can genes be activating oligonucleotides? Is there a place for multiple mechanism oligonucleotide medicines?
Are there any advantages of RNAi-based oligonucleotides over ASOs, and if so for what use?
What is occurring in the GCT venture capital segment? Which elements are seeing the most activity? Which areas have cooled? How is the investment market segmented between gene therapy, cell therapy and gene editing? What makes a hot GCT company? How long will the market stay frothy? Some review of demographics — # of investments, sizes, etc. Why is the market hot and how long do we expect it to stay that way? Rank the top 5 geographic markets for GCT company creation and investing? Are there academic centers that have been especially adept at accelerating GCT outcomes? Do the business models for the rapid development of coronavirus vaccine have any lessons for how GCT technology can be brought to market more quickly? Moderator: Meredith Fisher, PhD
The promise of stem cells has been a highlight in the realm of regenerative medicine. Unfortunately, that promise remains largely in the future. Recent breakthroughs have accelerated these potential interventions in particular for treating neurological disease. Among the topics the panel will consider are:
Stem cell sourcing
Therapeutic indication growth
Genetic and other modification in cell production
Cell production to final product optimization and challenges
The dynamics of venture/PE investing and IPOs are fast evolving. What are the drivers – will the number of investors grow will the size of early rounds continue to grow? How is this reflected in GCT target areas, company design, and biotech overall? Do patients benefit from these trends? Is crossover investing a distinct class or a little of both? Why did it emerge and what are the characteristics of the players? Will SPACs play a role in the growth of the gene and cell therapy industry. What is the role of corporate investment arms eg NVS, Bayer, GV, etc. – has a category killer emerged? Are we nearing the limit of what the GCT market can absorb or will investment capital continue to grow unabated? Moderator: Roger Kitterman
Nearly one hundred senior Mass General Brigham Harvard faculty contributed to the creation of this group of twelve GCT technologies that they believe will breakthrough in the next two years. The Disruptive Dozen identifies and ranks the GCT technologies that will be available on at least an experimental basis to have the chance of significantly improving health care. 11:35 AM – 11:45 AM
Computer connection to the iCloud of WordPress.com FROZE completely at 10:30AM EST and no file update was possible. COVERAGE OF MAY 21, 2021 IS RECORDED BELOW FOLLOWING THE AGENDA BY COPY AN DPASTE OF ALL THE TWEETS I PRODUCED ON MAY 21, 2021 8:30 AM – 8:55 AM
What is occurring in the GCT venture capital segment? Which elements are seeing the most activity? Which areas have cooled? How is the investment market segmented between gene therapy, cell therapy and gene editing? What makes a hot GCT company? How long will the market stay frothy? Some review of demographics — # of investments, sizes, etc. Why is the market hot and how long do we expect it to stay that way? Rank the top 5 geographic markets for GCT company creation and investing? Are there academic centers that have been especially adept at accelerating GCT outcomes? Do the business models for the rapid development of coronavirus vaccine have any lessons for how GCT technology can be brought to market more quickly? Moderator: Meredith Fisher, PhD
The promise of stem cells has been a highlight in the realm of regenerative medicine. Unfortunately, that promise remains largely in the future. Recent breakthroughs have accelerated these potential interventions in particular for treating neurological disease. Among the topics the panel will consider are:
Stem cell sourcing
Therapeutic indication growth
Genetic and other modification in cell production
Cell production to final product optimization and challenges
The dynamics of venture/PE investing and IPOs are fast evolving. What are the drivers – will the number of investors grow will the size of early rounds continue to grow? How is this reflected in GCT target areas, company design, and biotech overall? Do patients benefit from these trends? Is crossover investing a distinct class or a little of both? Why did it emerge and what are the characteristics of the players? Will SPACs play a role in the growth of the gene and cell therapy industry. What is the role of corporate investment arms eg NVS, Bayer, GV, etc. – has a category killer emerged? Are we nearing the limit of what the GCT market can absorb or will investment capital continue to grow unabated? Moderator: Roger Kitterman
Nearly one hundred senior Mass General Brigham Harvard faculty contributed to the creation of this group of twelve GCT technologies that they believe will breakthrough in the next two years. The Disruptive Dozen identifies and ranks the GCT technologies that will be available on at least an experimental basis to have the chance of significantly improving health care. 11:35 AM – 11:45 AM
The co-chairs convene to reflect on the insights shared over the three days. They will discuss what to expect at the in-person GCT focused May 2-4, 2022 World Medical Innovation Forum.
The co-chairs convene to reflect on the insights shared over the three days. They will discuss what to expect at the in-person GCT focused May 2-4, 2022 World Medical Innovation Forum.Christine Seidman, MD
Cyprus Island, kidney disease by mutation causing MUC1 accumulation and death BRD4780 molecule that will clear the misfolding proteins from the kidney organoids: pleuripotent stem cells small molecule developed for applications in the other cell types in brain, eye, gene mutation build mechnism for therapy clinical models transition from Academia to biotech
One of the most innovative segments in all of healthcare is the development of GCT driven therapies for rare and ultra-rare diseases. Driven by a series of insights and tools and funded in part by disease focused foundations, philanthropists and abundant venture funding disease after disease is yielding to new GCT technology. These often become platforms to address more prevalent diseases. The goal of making these breakthroughs routine and affordable is challenged by a range of issues including clinical trial design and pricing.
What is driving the interest in rare diseases?
What are the biggest barriers to making breakthroughs ‘routine and affordable?’
What is the role of retrospective and prospective natural history studies in rare disease? When does the expected value of retrospective disease history studies justify the cost?
Related to the first question, what is the FDA expecting as far as controls in clinical trials for rare diseases? How does this impact the collection of natural history data?
The power of GCT to cure disease has the prospect of profoundly improving the lives of patients who respond. Planning for a disruption of this magnitude is complex and challenging as it will change care across the spectrum. Leading chief executives shares perspectives on how the industry will change and how this change should be anticipated. Moderator: Meg Tirrell
Senior Health and Science Reporter, CNBC
CGT becoming staple therapy what are the disruptors emerging Speakers: Lisa Dechamps
SVP & Chief Business Officer, Novartis Gene Therapies
Reimagine medicine with collaboration at MGH, MDM condition in children
The Science is there, sustainable processes and systems impact is transformational
Value based pricing, risk sharing Payers and Pharma for one time therapy with life span effect
Head, Pharmaceuticals Research & Development, Bayer AG
CGT – 2016 and in 2020 new leadership and capability
Disease Biology and therapeutics
Regenerative Medicine: CGT vs repair building pipeline in ophthalmology and cardiovascular
During Pandemic: Deliver Medicines like Moderna, Pfizer – collaborations between competitors with Government Bayer entered into Vaccines in 5 days, all processes had to change access innovations developed over decades for medical solutions
GCT represents a large and growing market for novel therapeutics that has several segments. These include Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, Neurological Diseases, Infectious Disease, Ophthalmology, Benign Blood Disorders, and many others; Manufacturing and Supply Chain including CDMO’s and CMO’s; Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine; Tools and Platforms (viral vectors, nano delivery, gene editing, etc.). Bayer’s pharma business participates in virtually all of these segments. How does a Company like Bayer approach the development of a portfolio in a space as large and as diverse as this one? How does Bayer approach the support of the production infrastructure with unique demands and significant differences from its historical requirements? Moderator:
EVP, Pharmaceuticals, Head of Cell & Gene Therapy, Bayer AG
CGT will bring treatment to cure, delivery of therapies
Be a Leader repair, regenerate, cure
Technology and Science for CGT – building a portfolio vs single asset decision criteria development of IP market access patients access acceleration of new products
Bayer strategy: build platform for use by four domains
Gener augmentation
Autologeneic therapy, analytics
Gene editing
Oncology Cell therapy tumor treatment: What kind of cells – the jury is out
Of 23 product launch at Bayer no prediction is possible some high some lows
Gene delivery uses physical, chemical, or viral means to introduce genetic material into cells. As more genetically modified therapies move closer to the market, challenges involving safety, efficacy, and manufacturing have emerged. Optimizing lipidic and polymer nanoparticles and exosomal delivery is a short-term priority. This panel will examine how the short-term and long-term challenges are being tackled particularly for non-viral delivery modalities. Moderator: Natalie Artzi, PhD
Gene editing was recognized by the Nobel Committee as “one of gene technology’s sharpest tools, having a revolutionary impact on life sciences.” Introduced in 2011, gene editing is used to modify DNA. It has applications across almost all categories of disease and is also being used in agriculture and public health.
Today’s panel is made up of pioneers who represent foundational aspects of gene editing. They will discuss the movement of the technology into the therapeutic mainstream.
Successes in gene editing – lessons learned from late-stage assets (sickle cell, ophthalmology)
When to use what editing tool – pros and cons of traditional gene-editing v. base editing. Is prime editing the future? Specific use cases for epigenetic editing.
When we reach widespread clinical use – role of off-target editing – is the risk real? How will we mitigate? How practical is patient-specific off-target evaluation?
There are several dozen companies working to develop gene or cell therapies for Sickle Cell Disease, Beta Thalassemia, and Fanconi Anemia. In some cases, there are enzyme replacement therapies that are deemed effective and safe. In other cases, the disease is only managed at best. This panel will address a number of questions that are particular to this class of genetic diseases:
What are the pros and cons of various strategies for treatment? There are AAV-based editing, non-viral delivery even oligonucleotide recruitment of endogenous editing/repair mechanisms. Which approaches are most appropriate for which disease?
How can companies increase the speed of recruitment for clinical trials when other treatments are available? What is the best approach to educate patients on a novel therapeutic?
How do we best address ethnic and socio-economic diversity to be more representative of the target patient population?
How long do we have to follow up with the patients from the scientific, patient’s community, and payer points of view? What are the current FDA and EMA guidelines for long-term follow-up?
Where are we with regards to surrogate endpoints and their application to clinically meaningful endpoints?
What are the emerging ethical dilemmas in pediatric gene therapy research? Are there challenges with informed consent and pediatric assent for trial participation?
Are there differences in reimbursement policies for these different blood disorders? Clearly durability of response is a big factor. Are there other considerations?
Oligonucleotide drugs have recently come into their own with approvals from companies such as Biogen, Alnylam, Novartis and others. This panel will address several questions:
How important is the delivery challenge for oligonucleotides? Are technological advancements emerging that will improve the delivery of oligonucleotides to the CNS or skeletal muscle after systemic administration?
Will oligonucleotides improve as a class that will make them even more effective? Are further advancements in backbone chemistry anticipated, for example.
Will oligonucleotide based therapies blaze trails for follow-on gene therapy products?
Are small molecules a threat to oligonucleotide-based therapies?
Beyond exon skipping and knock-down mechanisms, what other roles will oligonucleotide-based therapies take mechanistically — can genes be activating oligonucleotides? Is there a place for multiple mechanism oligonucleotide medicines?
Are there any advantages of RNAi-based oligonucleotides over ASOs, and if so for what use?
Computer connection to the iCloud of WordPress.com FROZE completely at 10:30AM EST and no file update was possible. COVERAGE OF MAY 21, 2021 IS RECORDED BELOW FOLLOWING THE AGENDA BY COPY AN DPASTE OF ALL THE TWEETS I PRODUCED ON MAY 21, 2021
What is occurring in the GCT venture capital segment? Which elements are seeing the most activity? Which areas have cooled? How is the investment market segmented between gene therapy, cell therapy and gene editing? What makes a hot GCT company? How long will the market stay frothy? Some review of demographics — # of investments, sizes, etc. Why is the market hot and how long do we expect it to stay that way? Rank the top 5 geographic markets for GCT company creation and investing? Are there academic centers that have been especially adept at accelerating GCT outcomes? Do the business models for the rapid development of coronavirus vaccine have any lessons for how GCT technology can be brought to market more quickly? Moderator: Meredith Fisher, PhD
Partner, Mass General Brigham Innovation Fund
Strategies, success what changes are needed in the drug discovery process Speakers:
Bring disruptive frontier as a platform with reliable delivery CGT double knock out disease cure all change efficiency and scope human centric vs mice centered right scale of data converted into therapeutics acceleratetion
Innovation in drugs 60% fails in trial because of Toxicology system of the future deal with big diseases
Moderna is an example in unlocking what is inside us Microbiome and beyond discover new drugs epigenetics
Manufacturing change is not a new clinical trial FDA need to be presented with new rethinking for big innovations Drug pricing cheaper requires systematization How to systematically scaling up systematize the discovery and the production regulatory innovations
The promise of stem cells has been a highlight in the realm of regenerative medicine. Unfortunately, that promise remains largely in the future. Recent breakthroughs have accelerated these potential interventions in particular for treating neurological disease. Among the topics the panel will consider are:
Stem cell sourcing
Therapeutic indication growth
Genetic and other modification in cell production
Cell production to final product optimization and challenges
Director, Neuroregeneration Research Institute, McLean
Professor, Neurology and Neuroscience, MGH, HMS
Opportunities in the next generation of the tactical level Welcome the oprimism and energy level of all Translational medicine funding stem cells enormous opportunities
Ear inside the scall compartments and receptors responsible for hearing highly differentiated tall ask to identify cell for anticipated differentiation
The dynamics of venture/PE investing and IPOs are fast evolving. What are the drivers – will the number of investors grow will the size of early rounds continue to grow? How is this reflected in GCT target areas, company design, and biotech overall? Do patients benefit from these trends? Is crossover investing a distinct class or a little of both? Why did it emerge and what are the characteristics of the players? Will SPACs play a role in the growth of the gene and cell therapy industry. What is the role of corporate investment arms eg NVS, Bayer, GV, etc. – has a category killer emerged? Are we nearing the limit of what the GCT market can absorb or will investment capital continue to grow unabated? Moderator: Roger Kitterman
VP, Venture, Mass General Brigham
Saturation reached or more investment is coming in CGT
Pharmacologic agent in existing cause another disorders locomo-movement related
efficacy Autologous cell therapy transplantation approach program T cells into dopamine generating neurons greater than Allogeneic cell transplantation
Current market does not have delivery mechanism that a drug-delivery is the solution Trials would fail on DELIVERY
Immune suppressed patients during one year to avoid graft rejection Autologous approach of Parkinson patient genetically mutated reprogramed as dopamine generating neuron – unknowns are present
Circuitry restoration
Microenvironment disease ameliorate symptoms – education of patients on the treatment
Nearly one hundred senior Mass General Brigham Harvard faculty contributed to the creation of this group of twelve GCT technologies that they believe will breakthrough in the next two years. The Disruptive Dozen identifies and ranks the GCT technologies that will be available on at least an experimental basis to have the chance of significantly improving health care. 11:35 AM – 11:45 AM
The co-chairs convene to reflect on the insights shared over the three days. They will discuss what to expect at the in-person GCT focused May 2-4, 2022 World Medical Innovation Forum.
ALL THE TWEETS PRODUCED ON MAY 21, 2021 INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:
Bob Carter, MD, PhD Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery, MGH William and Elizabeth Sweet, Professor of Neurosurgery, HMS Neurogeneration REVERSAL or slowing down?
Penelope Hallett, PhD NRL, McLean Assistant Professor Psychiatry, HMS efficacy Autologous cell therapy transplantation approach program T cells into dopamine genetating cells greater than Allogeneic cell transplantation
Roger Kitterman VP, Venture, Mass General Brigham Saturation reached or more investment is coming in CGT Multi OMICS and academia originated innovations are the most attractive areas
Peter Kolchinsky, PhD Founder and Managing Partner, RA Capital Management Future proof for new comers disruptors Ex Vivo gene therapy to improve funding products what tool kit belongs to
Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery, MGH, Professor of Neurosurgery, HMS Cell therapy for Parkinson to replace dopamine producing cells lost ability to produce dopamine skin cell to become autologous cells reprogramed
Kapil Bharti, PhD Senior Investigator, Ocular and Stem Cell Translational Research Section, NIH Off-th-shelf one time treatment becoming cure Intact tissue in a dish is fragile to maintain metabolism to become like semiconductors
Ole Isacson, MD, PhD Director, Neuroregeneration Research Institute, McLean Professor, Neurology and Neuroscience, MGH, HMS Opportunities in the next generation of the tactical level Welcome the oprimism and energy level of all
Erin Kimbrel, PhD Executive Director, Regenerative Medicine, Astellas In the ocular space immunogenecity regulatory communication use gene editing for immunogenecity Cas1 and Cas2 autologous cells
Nabiha Saklayen, PhD CEO and Co-Founder, Cellino scale production of autologous cells foundry using semiconductor process in building cassettes by optic physicists
Joe Burns, PhD VP, Head of Biology, Decibel Therapeutics Ear inside the scall compartments and receptors responsible for hearing highly differentiated tall ask to identify cell for anticipated differentiation control by genomics
Kapil Bharti, PhD Senior Investigator, Ocular and Stem Cell Translational Research Section, NIH first drug required to establish the process for that innovations design of animal studies not done before
Robert Nelsen Managing Director, Co-founder, ARCH Venture Partners Manufacturing change is not a new clinical trial FDA need to be presented with new rethinking for big innovations Drug pricing cheaper requires systematization
David Berry, MD, PhD CEO, Valo Health GP, Flagship Pioneering Bring disruptive frontier platform reliable delivery CGT double knockout disease cure all change efficiency scope human centric vs mice centered right scale acceleration
Kush Parmar, MD, PhD Managing Partner, 5AM Ventures build it yourself, benefit for patients FIrst Look at MGB shows MEE innovation on inner ear worthy investment
Robert Nelsen Managing Director, Co-founder, ARCH Venture Partners Frustration with supply chain during the Pandemic, GMC anticipation in advance CGT rapidly prototype rethink and invest proactive investor .edu and Pharma
Top on the world’s want list right now is a coronavirus vaccine. There is plenty of speculation about how and when this might become a reality, but clear answers are scarce.Science/AAAS, the world’s leading scientific organization and publisher of the Science family of journals, brings together experts in the field of coronavirus vaccine research to answer the public’s most pressing questions: What vaccines are being developed? When are we likely to get them? Are they safe? And most importantly, will they work?
Improving diagnostic yield in pediatric cancer precision medicine
Elaine R Mardis
Advent of genomics have revolutionized how we diagnose and treat lung cancer
We are currently needing to understand the driver mutations and variants where we can personalize therapy
PD-L1 and other checkpoint therapy have not really been used in pediatric cancers even though CAR-T have been successful
The incidence rates and mortality rates of pediatric cancers are rising
Large scale study of over 700 pediatric cancers show cancers driven by epigenetic drivers or fusion proteins. Need for transcriptomics. Also study demonstrated that we have underestimated germ line mutations and hereditary factors.
They put together a database to nominate patients on their IGM Cancer protocol. Involves genetic counseling and obtaining germ line samples to determine hereditary factors. RNA and protein are evaluated as well as exome sequencing. RNASeq and Archer Dx test to identify driver fusions
PECAN curated database from St. Jude used to determine driver mutations. They use multiple databases and overlap within these databases and knowledge base to determine or weed out false positives
They have used these studies to understand the immune infiltrate into recurrent cancers (CytoCure)
They found 40 germline cancer predisposition genes, 47 driver somatic fusion proteins, 81 potential actionable targets, 106 CNV, 196 meaningful somatic driver mutations
They are functioning well at NCI with respect to grant reviews, research, and general functions in spite of the COVID pandemic and the massive demonstrations on also focusing on the disparities which occur in cancer research field and cancer care
There are ongoing efforts at NCI to make a positive difference in racial injustice, diversity in the cancer workforce, and for patients as well
Need a diverse workforce across the cancer research and care spectrum
Data show that areas where the clinicians are successful in putting African Americans on clinical trials are areas (geographic and site specific) where health disparities are narrowing
Grants through NCI new SeroNet for COVID-19 serologic testing funded by two RFAs through NIAD (RFA-CA-30-038 and RFA-CA-20-039) and will close on July 22, 2020
Tuesday, June 23
12:45 PM – 1:46 PM EDT
Virtual Educational Session
Immunology, Tumor Biology, Experimental and Molecular Therapeutics, Molecular and Cellular Biology/Genetics
This educational session will update cancer researchers and clinicians about the latest developments in the detailed understanding of the types and roles of immune cells in tumors. It will summarize current knowledge about the types of T cells, natural killer cells, B cells, and myeloid cells in tumors and discuss current knowledge about the roles these cells play in the antitumor immune response. The session will feature some of the most promising up-and-coming cancer immunologists who will inform about their latest strategies to harness the immune system to promote more effective therapies.
Judith A Varner, Yuliya Pylayeva-Gupta
Introduction
Judith A Varner
New techniques reveal critical roles of myeloid cells in tumor development and progression
Different type of cells are becoming targets for immune checkpoint like myeloid cells
In T cell excluded or desert tumors T cells are held at periphery so myeloid cells can infiltrate though so macrophages might be effective in these immune t cell naïve tumors, macrophages are most abundant types of immune cells in tumors
CXCLs are potential targets
PI3K delta inhibitors,
Reduce the infiltrate of myeloid tumor suppressor cells like macrophages
When should we give myeloid or T cell therapy is the issue
Judith A Varner
Novel strategies to harness T-cell biology for cancer therapy
Positive and negative roles of B cells in cancer
Yuliya Pylayeva-Gupta
New approaches in cancer immunotherapy: Programming bacteria to induce systemic antitumor immunity
There are numerous examples of highly successful covalent drugs such as aspirin and penicillin that have been in use for a long period of time. Despite historical success, there was a period of reluctance among many to purse covalent drugs based on concerns about toxicity. With advances in understanding features of a well-designed covalent drug, new techniques to discover and characterize covalent inhibitors, and clinical success of new covalent cancer drugs in recent years, there is renewed interest in covalent compounds. This session will provide a broad look at covalent probe compounds and drug development, including a historical perspective, examination of warheads and electrophilic amino acids, the role of chemoproteomics, and case studies.
Benjamin F Cravatt, Richard A. Ward, Sara J Buhrlage
Discovering and optimizing covalent small-molecule ligands by chemical proteomics
Benjamin F Cravatt
Multiple approaches are being investigated to find new covalent inhibitors such as: 1) cysteine reactivity mapping, 2) mapping cysteine ligandability, 3) and functional screening in phenotypic assays for electrophilic compounds
Using fluorescent activity probes in proteomic screens; have broad useability in the proteome but can be specific
They screened quiescent versus stimulated T cells to determine reactive cysteines in a phenotypic screen and analyzed by MS proteomics (cysteine reactivity profiling); can quantitate 15000 to 20,000 reactive cysteines
Isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and adapter protein LCP-1 are two examples of changes in reactive cysteines they have seen using this method
They use scout molecules to target ligands or proteins with reactive cysteines
For phenotypic screens they first use a cytotoxic assay to screen out toxic compounds which just kill cells without causing T cell activation (like IL10 secretion)
INTERESTINGLY coupling these MS reactive cysteine screens with phenotypic screens you can find NONCANONICAL mechanisms of many of these target proteins (many of the compounds found targets which were not predicted or known)
Electrophilic warheads and nucleophilic amino acids: A chemical and computational perspective on covalent modifier
The covalent targeting of cysteine residues in drug discovery and its application to the discovery of Osimertinib
Richard A. Ward
Cysteine activation: thiolate form of cysteine is a strong nucleophile
Thiolate form preferred in polar environment
Activation can be assisted by neighboring residues; pKA will have an effect on deprotonation
pKas of cysteine vary in EGFR
cysteine that are too reactive give toxicity while not reactive enough are ineffective
Accelerating drug discovery with lysine-targeted covalent probes
This Educational Session aims to guide discussion on the heterogeneous cells and metabolism in the tumor microenvironment. It is now clear that the diversity of cells in tumors each require distinct metabolic programs to survive and proliferate. Tumors, however, are genetically programmed for high rates of metabolism and can present a metabolically hostile environment in which nutrient competition and hypoxia can limit antitumor immunity.
Jeffrey C Rathmell, Lydia Lynch, Mara H Sherman, Greg M Delgoffe
T-cell metabolism and metabolic reprogramming antitumor immunity
Jeffrey C Rathmell
Introduction
Jeffrey C Rathmell
Metabolic functions of cancer-associated fibroblasts
Mara H Sherman
Tumor microenvironment metabolism and its effects on antitumor immunity and immunotherapeutic response
Greg M Delgoffe
Multiple metabolites, reactive oxygen species within the tumor microenvironment; is there heterogeneity within the TME metabolome which can predict their ability to be immunosensitive
Took melanoma cells and looked at metabolism using Seahorse (glycolysis): and there was vast heterogeneity in melanoma tumor cells; some just do oxphos and no glycolytic metabolism (inverse Warburg)
As they profiled whole tumors they could separate out the metabolism of each cell type within the tumor and could look at T cells versus stromal CAFs or tumor cells and characterized cells as indolent or metabolic
T cells from hyerglycolytic tumors were fine but from high glycolysis the T cells were more indolent
When knock down glucose transporter the cells become more glycolytic
If patient had high oxidative metabolism had low PDL1 sensitivity
Showed this result in head and neck cancer as well
Metformin a complex 1 inhibitor which is not as toxic as most mito oxphos inhibitors the T cells have less hypoxia and can remodel the TME and stimulate the immune response
Metformin now in clinical trials
T cells though seem metabolically restricted; T cells that infiltrate tumors are low mitochondrial phosph cells
T cells from tumors have defective mitochondria or little respiratory capacity
They have some preliminary findings that metabolic inhibitors may help with CAR-T therapy
Obesity, lipids and suppression of anti-tumor immunity
Lydia Lynch
Hypothesis: obesity causes issues with anti tumor immunity
Less NK cells in obese people; also produce less IFN gamma
RNASeq on NOD mice; granzymes and perforins at top of list of obese downregulated
Upregulated genes that were upregulated involved in lipid metabolism
All were PPAR target genes
NK cells from obese patients takes up palmitate and this reduces their glycolysis but OXPHOS also reduced; they think increased FFA basically overloads mitochondria
Long recognized for their role in cancer diagnosis and prognostication, pathologists are beginning to leverage a variety of digital imaging technologies and computational tools to improve both clinical practice and cancer research. Remarkably, the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms for analyzing pathology specimens is poised to not only augment the resolution and accuracy of clinical diagnosis, but also fundamentally transform the role of the pathologist in cancer science and precision oncology. This session will discuss what pathologists are currently able to achieve with these new technologies, present their challenges and barriers, and overview their future possibilities in cancer diagnosis and research. The session will also include discussions of what is practical and doable in the clinic for diagnostic and clinical oncology in comparison to technologies and approaches primarily utilized to accelerate cancer research.
Jorge S Reis-Filho, Thomas J Fuchs, David L Rimm, Jayanta Debnath
Using old methods and new methods; so cell counting you use to find the cells then phenotype; with quantification like with Aqua use densitometry of positive signal to determine a threshold to determine presence of a cell for counting
Hiplex versus multiplex imaging where you have ten channels to measure by cycling of flour on antibody (can get up to 20plex)
Hiplex can be coupled with Mass spectrometry (Imaging Mass spectrometry, based on heavy metal tags on mAbs)
However it will still take a trained pathologist to define regions of interest or field of desired view
Introduction
Jayanta Debnath
Challenges and barriers of implementing AI tools for cancer diagnostics
Jorge S Reis-Filho
Implementing robust digital pathology workflows into clinical practice and cancer research
Jayanta Debnath
Invited Speaker
Thomas J Fuchs
Founder of spinout of Memorial Sloan Kettering
Separates AI from computational algothimic
Dealing with not just machines but integrating human intelligence
Making decision for the patients must involve human decision making as well
How do we get experts to do these decisions faster
AI in pathology: what is difficult? =è sandbox scenarios where machines are great,; curated datasets; human decision support systems or maps; or try to predict nature
1) learn rules made by humans; human to human scenario 2)constrained nature 3)unconstrained nature like images and or behavior 4) predict nature response to nature response to itself
In sandbox scenario the rules are set in stone and machines are great like chess playing
In second scenario can train computer to predict what a human would predict
So third scenario is like driving cars
System on constrained nature or constrained dataset will take a long time for commuter to get to decision
Fourth category is long term data collection project
He is finding it is still finding it is still is difficult to predict nature so going from clinical finding to prognosis still does not have good predictability with AI alone; need for human involvement
End to end partnering (EPL) is a new way where humans can get more involved with the algorithm and assist with the problem of constrained data
An example of a workflow for pathology would be as follows from Campanella et al 2019 Nature Medicine: obtain digital images (they digitized a million slides), train a massive data set with highthroughput computing (needed a lot of time and big software developing effort), and then train it using input be the best expert pathologists (nature to human and unconstrained because no data curation done)
Led to first clinically grade machine learning system (Camelyon16 was the challenge for detecting metastatic cells in lymph tissue; tested on 12,000 patients from 45 countries)
The first big hurdle was moving from manually annotated slides (which was a big bottleneck) to automatically extracted data from path reports).
Now problem is in prediction: How can we bridge the gap from predicting humans to predicting nature?
With an AI system pathologist drastically improved the ability to detect very small lesions
Incidence rates of several cancers (e.g., colorectal, pancreatic, and breast cancers) are rising in younger populations, which contrasts with either declining or more slowly rising incidence in older populations. Early-onset cancers are also more aggressive and have different tumor characteristics than those in older populations. Evidence on risk factors and contributors to early-onset cancers is emerging. In this Educational Session, the trends and burden, potential causes, risk factors, and tumor characteristics of early-onset cancers will be covered. Presenters will focus on colorectal and breast cancer, which are among the most common causes of cancer deaths in younger people. Potential mechanisms of early-onset cancers and racial/ethnic differences will also be discussed.
Stacey A. Fedewa, Xavier Llor, Pepper Jo Schedin, Yin Cao
Cancers that are and are not increasing in younger populations
Stacey A. Fedewa
Early onset cancers, pediatric cancers and colon cancers are increasing in younger adults
Younger people are more likely to be uninsured and these are there most productive years so it is a horrible life event for a young adult to be diagnosed with cancer. They will have more financial hardship and most (70%) of the young adults with cancer have had financial difficulties. It is very hard for women as they are on their childbearing years so additional stress
Types of early onset cancer varies by age as well as geographic locations. For example in 20s thyroid cancer is more common but in 30s it is breast cancer. Colorectal and testicular most common in US.
SCC is decreasing by adenocarcinoma of the cervix is increasing in women’s 40s, potentially due to changing sexual behaviors
Breast cancer is increasing in younger women: maybe etiologic distinct like triple negative and larger racial disparities in younger African American women
Increased obesity among younger people is becoming a factor in this increasing incidence of early onset cancers
Other Articles on this Open Access Online Journal on Cancer Conferences and Conference Coverage in Real Time Include
2020 World Medical Innovation Forum – COVID-19, AI and the Future of Medicine, Featuring Harvard and Industry Leader Insights – MGH & BWH, Virtual Event: Monday, May 11, 8:15 a.m. – 5:15 p.m. ET
Dialogue among principals is a World Forum’s signature. Expert moderators guiding discussion and questions in audience friendly exchanges. No slides – shared perspectives facilitated by Harvard faculty, leading journalists and Mass General Brigham executives.
Jeffrey Golden, MD
Chair, Department of Pathology, BH; Ramzi S. Cotran Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School
Hadine Joffe, MD
Vice Chair, Psychiatry, Executive Director, Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology, BH; Paula A. Johnson Professor, Women’s Health, Harvard Medical School
Thomas Sequist, MD
Chief Patient Experience and Equity Officer, Mass General Brigham; Professor of Medicine and Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School
Erica Shenoy, MD, PhD
Associate Chief, Infection Control Unit, MGH; Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School
Gregg Meyer, MD
Chief Clinical Officer, Mass General Brigham; Interim President, NWH; Professor, Harvard Medical School
Ravi Thadhani, MD
CAO, Mass General Brigham; Professor and Faculty Dean for Academic Programs, Harvard Medical School
Ann Prestipino
SVP; Incident Commander, MGH
Roger Kitterman
VP, Venture and Managing Partner, Partners Innovation Fund, Mass General Brigham
David Louis, MD
Pathologist-in-Chief, MGH; Benjamin Castleman Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School
Janet Wu
Bloomberg
Ron Walls, MD
EVP and Chief Operating Officer, BH; Neskey Family Professor of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Alice Park
Senior Writer, TIME
Jeffrey Golden, MD
Chair, Department of Pathology, BH; Ramzi S. Cotran Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School
Hadine Joffe, MD
Vice Chair, Psychiatry, Executive Director, Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology, BH; Paula A. Johnson Professor, Women’s Health, Harvard Medical School
Thomas Sequist, MD
Chief Patient Experience and Equity Officer, Mass General Brigham; Professor of Medicine and Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School
Erica Shenoy, MD, PhD
Associate Chief, Infection Control Unit, MGH; Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School
Gregg Meyer, MD
Chief Clinical Officer, Mass General Brigham; Interim President, NWH; Professor, Harvard Medical School
Ravi Thadhani, MD
CAO, Mass General Brigham; Professor and Faculty Dean for Academic Programs, Harvard Medical School
Ann Prestipino
SVP; Incident Commander, MGH
Roger Kitterman
VP, Venture and Managing Partner, Partners Innovation Fund, Mass General Brigham
David Louis, MD
Pathologist-in-Chief, MGH; Benjamin Castleman Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School
Janet Wu
Bloomberg
Ron Walls, MD
EVP and Chief Operating Officer, BH; Neskey Family Professor of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Subject: REGISTRANT RECAP | World Medical Innovation Forum
Dear World Forum Attendee,
On behalf of Mass General Brigham CEO Anne Klibanski MD and Forum co-Chairs Gregg Meyer MD and Ravi Thadhani MD, many thanks for being among the nearly 11,000 registrants representing 93 countries, 46 states and 3200 organizations yesterday. A community was established around many pressing topics that will continue long into the future. We hope you have a chance to examine the attached survey results. There are several revealing items that should be the basis for ongoing discussion. We expect to be in touch regularly during the year. Among the plans is a “First Look” video series highlighting top Mass General Brigham Harvard faculty as well as emerging Harvard investigators. As promised, we wanted to also share visual Forum session summaries. You will be able to access the recordings on the Forum’s YouTube page . The first set will go up this morning
We hope you will join us for the 2021 Forum!
Thanks again, Chris
e-Proceedings 2020 World Medical Innovation Forum – COVID-19, AI and the Future of Medicine, Featuring Harvard and Industry Leader Insights – MGH & BWH, Virtual Event: Monday, May 11, 8:15 a.m. – 5:15 p.m. ET
Tweets & Retweets 2020 World Medical Innovation Forum – COVID-19, AI and the Future of Medicine, Featuring Harvard and Industry Leader Insights – MGH & BWH, Virtual Event: Monday, May 11, 8:15 a.m. – 5:15 p.m. ET
2020 World Medical Innovation Forum – COVID-19, AI and the Future of Medicine, Featuring Harvard and Industry Leader Insights – MGH & BWH, Virtual Event: Monday, May 11, 8:15 a.m. – 5:15 p.m. ET
Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN
Collaborative innovation has never been more important
Join top leaders guiding the response, technology and people confronting this century’s greatest health challenge.
Priya Abani
CEO, AliveCor
General Keith Alexander
Co-CEO, IronNet; Former NSA Head
Stéphane Bancel
CEO, Moderna
Marc Casper
CEO, Thermo Fisher
Timothy Ferris, MD
CEO, MGPO; Professor, HMS
John Fernandez
President, MEE; President, Ambulatory Care, Mass General Brigham
John Fish
CEO, Suffolk; BH Board Chair
JF Formela, MD
Partner, Atlas Venture
Jan Garfinkle
Manager Partner, Arboretum Ventures; Chair, NVCA
Phillip Gross
Managing Director, Adage Capital Management
Julia Hu
CEO, Lark Health
Anjali Kataria
CEO, Mytonomy
Roger Kitterman
VP, Managing Partner, Mass General Brigahm Fund
Jonathan Kraft
President, Kraft Group; Chair, MGH Board
Brooke LeVasseur
CEO, AristaMD
Mike Mahoney
CEO, Boston Scientific
Bernd Montag, PhD
CEO, Siemens Healthineers
Kieran Murphy
CEO, GE Healthcare
Elizabeth Nabel, MD
President, BH; Professor, HMS
Matt Sause
CEO, Roche Diagnostics
Peter Slavin, MD
President, MGH; Professor, HMS
Scott Sperling
Co-President, TH Lee; Chair, Mass General Brigham Board
Christopher Viehbacher
Managing Partner, Gurnet Point Capital
Michel Vounatsos
CEO, Biogen
Collaborative Innovation
Together we meet the challenge of the coronavirus and share our commitment to the future of medicine.
FDA Role in Managing Crisis and Anticipating the Next
Elizabeth Nabel, MD
President, Brigham Health; Professor of Medicine, HMS
PANEL
Care in the Next 18 Months
Karen DeSalvo, MD
Chief Health Officer, Google Health
PANEL
Role of AI and Big Data in Fighting COVID-19
Dawn Sugarman, PhD
Assistant Psychologist, Division of Alcohol, Drugs, and Addiction, McLean; Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, HMS
PANEL
Digital Therapeutics
Ann Prestipino
SVP; Incident Commander, MGH; Teaching Associate, HMS
PANEL
Real Time: Front Line Innovation
Hadine Joffe, MD
Vice Chair, Research, Psychiatry; Executive Director, Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology, BH; Paula Johnson Professor, Women’s Health, HMS
PANEL
Digital Therapeutics
Priya Abani
CEO, AliveCor
PANEL
Digital Therapeutics
Julia Hu
CEO, Lark Health
PANEL
Digital Therapeutics
Jan Garfinkle
Manager Partner, Arboretum Ventures; Chair NVCA
PANEL
Early Stage Investment Environment
Anjali Kataria
CEO, Mytonomy
PANEL
Patient Experience During the Pandemic
Brooke LeVasseur
CEO, AristaMD
PANEL
Digital Health Becomes a Pillar
Julie Lankiewicz
Head, Clinical Affairs & Health Economics Outcomes Research, Bose Health
Subject: REGISTRANT RECAP | World Medical Innovation Forum
Dear World Forum Attendee,
On behalf of Mass General Brigham CEO Anne Klibanski MD and Forum co-Chairs Gregg Meyer MD and Ravi Thadhani MD, many thanks for being among the nearly 11,000 registrants representing 93 countries, 46 states and 3200 organizations yesterday. A community was established around many pressing topics that will continue long into the future. We hope you have a chance to examine the attached survey results. There are several revealing items that should be the basis for ongoing discussion. We expect to be in touch regularly during the year. Among the plans is a “First Look” video series highlighting top Mass General Brigham Harvard faculty as well as emerging Harvard investigators. As promised, we wanted to also share visual Forum session summaries. You will be able to access the recordings on the Forum’s YouTube page . The first set will go up this morning
We hope you will join us for the 2021 Forum!
Thanks again, Chris
e-Proceedings 2020 World Medical Innovation Forum – COVID-19, AI and the Future of Medicine, Featuring Harvard and Industry Leader Insights – MGH & BWH, Virtual Event: Monday, May 11, 8:15 a.m. – 5:15 p.m. ET
Tweets & Retweets 2020 World Medical Innovation Forum – COVID-19, AI and the Future of Medicine, Featuring Harvard and Industry Leader Insights – MGH & BWH, Virtual Event: Monday, May 11, 8:15 a.m. – 5:15 p.m. ET
The ”Disruptive Dozen” – Harnessing Technology to Reduce Health Disparities: Twelve mostly likely to have significant impact on healthcare by end of 2021.
Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN
2020 World Medical Innovation Forum – COVID-19, AI and the Future of Medicine, Featuring Harvard and Industry Leader Insights – MGH & BWH, Virtual Event: Monday, May 11, 8:15 a.m. – 5:15 p.m. ET
Subject: REGISTRANT RECAP | World Medical Innovation Forum
Dear World Forum Attendee,
On behalf of Mass General Brigham CEO Anne Klibanski MD and Forum co-Chairs Gregg Meyer MD and Ravi Thadhani MD, many thanks for being among the nearly 11,000 registrants representing 93 countries, 46 states and 3200 organizations yesterday. A community was established around many pressing topics that will continue long into the future. We hope you have a chance to examine the attached survey results. There are several revealing items that should be the basis for ongoing discussion. We expect to be in touch regularly during the year. Among the plans is a “First Look” video series highlighting top Mass General Brigham Harvard faculty as well as emerging Harvard investigators. As promised, we wanted to also share visual Forum session summaries. You will be able to access the recordings on the Forum’s YouTube page . The first set will go up this morning
We hope you will join us for the 2021 Forum!
Thanks again, Chris
e-Proceedings 2020 World Medical Innovation Forum – COVID-19, AI and the Future of Medicine, Featuring Harvard and Industry Leader Insights – MGH & BWH, Virtual Event: Monday, May 11, 8:15 a.m. – 5:15 p.m. ET
Tweets & Retweets 2020 World Medical Innovation Forum – COVID-19, AI and the Future of Medicine, Featuring Harvard and Industry Leader Insights – MGH & BWH, Virtual Event: Monday, May 11, 8:15 a.m. – 5:15 p.m. ET
The ”Disruptive Dozen” results from interviews of one hundred Mass General Brigham senior Harvard faculty followed by a rigorous selection process to identify the twelve mostly likely to have significant impact on healthcare by end of 2021.
Rochelle Walensky, MD
Chief, Infectious Disease, MGH; Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
1.
Battling COVID-19: Maps, Technology, and AI
Mapping the spread of infectious diseases within communities is more important than ever as the novel coronavirus continues to sweep across the globe. Researchers are harnessing AI, technology, and advanced data analytics to map the spread of COVID-19 and identify those infected with the virus.
Chief Patient Experience and Equity Officer, PHS; Professor of Medicine and Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School
2.
Harnessing Technology to Reduce Health Disparities
Health is determined not just by genes, diet, and exercise, but also by the environments where people live, learn, work, and play. New technologies are emerging to help reduce health disparities and improve health outcomes.
Alan Gary Scholar, Director Harris Orthopaedics Lab, MGH; Professor, Harvard Medical School
4.
Solving the Problem of Infection in Total Joint Replacements
Total joint replacement is an increasingly common procedure. For most patients, recovery is uneventful and lasts a few months, but some experience a much more complicated and painful journey due to infection in the artificial joint. Find out how researchers are harnessing technology to help address this problem.
Vice Chair for Scientific Innovation, Department of Medicine, BH; Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
3.
Digital Management of Chronic Disease
Chronic diseases are a major challenge for patients and health care systems alike. In 2016, the U.S. spent over a trillion dollars caring for patients with heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other chronic conditions. Find out how technology could help improve care for these patients — and lower costs.
Director, Center for Regenerative Medicine, MGH; Co-Director, Harvard Stem Cell Institute; Gerald and Darlene Jordan Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
7.
New Therapeutic Options for Sickle Cell Disease
Millions of people worldwide suffer from sickle cell disease. While the cause of this debilitating blood disorder has been known for half a century, only two drugs are currently available to treat it. New developments are on the horizon that could help transform the management of a disease that has too often been overlooked.
Co-Director Pediatric Cerebrovascular Service, MGH; Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School
6.
Gene Therapies Transform Treatment of Rare, Devastating Diseases
The emergence of the first gene therapies for clinical use signaled a watershed moment in the history of medicine. This treatment modality will do ever more in the coming year for patients, especially those with rare genetic conditions.
Chief of Ophthalmology, MEE and MGH; Ophthalmologist-in-Chief, BH; David Glendenning Cogan Professor of Ophthalmology and Chair, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School
5.
New Tools to Help Aging Eyes and Ears
Like many parts of the body, the eyes and ears can deteriorate with age, making them vulnerable to disease and loss of sensory functions. Find out how new technologies and treatments could help patients and clinicians better protect these organs from age-related decline.
Associate Pathologist, Brigham Health; Assistant Professor, Pathology, Harvard Medical School
10.
Making Cells Larger to See Them More Clearly
Visualizing cells at high-resolution is a cornerstone of modern biology and medicine. For more than a century, as scientists yearned to observe biological structures with greater power and clarity, they built more advanced microscopes. Yet today, even those sophisticated tools have limits. See how researchers are developing a innovative new approach to cell visualization.
Co-Director of the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham Health; Vincent and Stella Coates Professor of Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School
9.
First Disease-Modifying Therapy for Alzheimer’s Disease
The world lacks a meaningful treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive, debilitating neurodegenerative condition that affects millions across the globe. But that could change later this year, when the FDA is expected to weigh in on a novel drug that targets clumps of protein in the brain known as amyloid plaques. If approved, the drug would mark the first disease-modifying therapy for Alzheimer’s disease.
Medical Director, Vascularized Composite Tissue Transplantation, Brigham Health; Associate Physician, Harvard Medical School
8.
Keeping Transplant Organs Fresher for Longer
Over 120,000 people in this country are now waiting for an organ transplant. What if it were possible to increase the time that organs can be safely stored outside the body prior to transplantation? Scientists are working to drive innovation in this area in an effort to expand the pool of donor organs available for those who need them.
Tweets & Retweets 2020 World Medical Innovation Forum – COVID-19, AI and the Future of Medicine, Featuring Harvard and Industry Leader Insights – MGH & BWH, Virtual Event: Monday, May 11, 8:15 a.m. – 5:15 p.m. ET
e-Proceedings 2020 World Medical Innovation Forum – COVID-19, AI and the Future of Medicine, Featuring Harvard and Industry Leader Insights – MGH & BWH, Virtual Event: Monday, May 11, 8:15 a.m. – 5:15 p.m. ET
Michel Vounatsos, CEO, Biogen Venture community supportive to be on the safe side employees tested every evenings to prevent rebound of the pandemic Pandemic is acceleration progress technologies new drugs Biogen will lead new model
Julie Lankiewicz @BoseHealth EKG between patients no more mitigation of care – Brand new prescriptions for Anxiety and burnout Digital solution to replace medications – audio content to avoid pharmacology methods of relaxation
Michel Vounatsos, CEO, Biogen Venture community supportive to be on the safe side employees tested every evenings to prevent rebound of the pandemic Pandemic is acceleration progress technologies new drugs Biogen will lead new model
Anjali Kataria, CEO, Mytonomy Video overcome illiteracy and provide personal engagement without the negative Home health will be the shift – a human component will not go away – sensor technology in car, bathroom COVID-19 Telehealth
#WMIF2020
James A. Gardner
@jamesagardner
·
Amazon’s Amanda Goltz shares how #AmazonAlexa & other #voiceUI technologies are helping COVID19 clinicians: ease of use & modest cost have been key. Hands-free UI conserves scarce #PPE in some cases.
#WMIF2020@PHSInnovation@pharma_BI@AVIVA1950 Jan Garfinkle, Founder & Manager Partner, Arboretum Ventures Can you close a deal with out meeting management team Known funds will prevail vs new funds Parma adjacencies vs medical devices Telehealth is of interest GI Cardiovascular
#WMIF2020@PHSInnovation@pharma_BI@AVIVA1950 Digital Therapeutics Hadine Joffe, MD @BH; Paula A. Johnson Professor, Women’s Health, HMS Priya Abani, CEO, AliveCor Julia Hu, CEO, Lark Health Dawn Sugarman, PhD @McLeanHospital
#WMIF2020@PHSInnovation@pharma_BI@AVIVA1950 Joerg Moeller, MD, PhD, Head of Research @BayerPharmaAG led team of 9 products Unprecedented is COVID-19: effect on work, travel, lifevAnti-Malaria vs COVID-19: In China testing early chloroquine approved for RA and anti Malaria
#WMIF2020@PHSInnovation@pharma_BI@AVIVA1950 Michael Mina, MD, PhD @BH Antigen test for home administration consumerization of the Testing Walmart can be positioned for blood tests Not only Physicians can order tests @Microsoft@Amazon can interpretation of Test using Alexa
#WMIF2020@PHSInnovation@pharma_BI@AVIVA1950 Michael Mina, MD, PhD @BH Antigen test for home administration consumerization of the Testing Walmart can be positioned for blood tests Not only Physicians can order tests @Microsoft@Amazon can interpretation of Test using Alexa
#WMIF2020@PHSInnovation@pharma_BI@AVIVA1950 Ross Zafonte, DO, SVP, Research Education and Medical Affairs, SRN; Earle P. and Ida S. Charlton Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, HMS @MGH is family, the unattainable is attainable
#WMIF2020@PHSInnovation@pharma_BI@AVIVA1950 Jan Garfinkle, Founder & Manager Partner, Arboretum Ventures Can you close a deal with out meeting management team Known funds will prevail vs new funds Parma adjacencies vs medical devices Telehealth is of interest GI Cardiovascular
#WMIF2020@PHSInnovation@pharma_BI@AVIVA1950 Ravi Thadhani, MD, CAO, Mass General Brigham; Professor of Medicine and Faculty Dean for Academic Programs, HMS Great Broadcasting services, expertise on the top Management of the Event 100% no room to improve Recovery COVID Patients
Stephen J Williams
@StephenJWillia2
·
2020 World Medical Innovation Forum – COVID-19, AI and the Future of Medicine, Featuring Harvard and Industry Leader Insights – #MGH & #BWH Virtual Event: Monday, May 11, 8:15 a.m. – 5:15 p.m. ET #WMIF
2020 World Medical Innovation Forum – COVID-19, AI and the Future of Medicine, Featuring Harvard…
2020 World Medical Innovation Forum – COVID-19, AI and the Future of Medicine, Featuring Harvard and Industry Leader Insights – MGH & BWH, Virtual Event: Monday, May 11, 8:15 a.m. –…
pharmaceuticalintelligence.com
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Fears of homophobic backlash sparked as Korean media focus on gay club COVID-19 case
#WMIF20@pharma_BI@AVIVA1950 covering event in #realtime +9,500 Global Attendees for http://lnkd.in/ePwTDxm about https://worldmedicalinnovation.org/2020-disruptive-dozen/… 2020 #Virtual#World#Medical#Innovation#Forum – #COVID-19 #AI#Future#Medicine@MGH & @BWH, Monday, May 11, 8:15 a.m. – 5:15 p.m. ET
#WMIF20@pharma_BI@AVIVA1950 covering event in #realtime +9,500 Global Attendees for http://lnkd.in/ePwTDxm about https://worldmedicalinnovation.org/2020-disruptive-dozen/… 2020 #Virtual#World#Medical#Innovation#Forum – #COVID-19 #AI#Future#Medicine@MGH & @BWH, Monday, May 11, 8:15 a.m. – 5:15 p.m. ET
2020 World Medical Innovation Forum – COVID-19, AI and the Future of Medicine, Featuring Harvard…
2020 World Medical Innovation Forum – COVID-19, AI and the Future of Medicine, Featuring Harvard and Industry Leader Insights – MGH & BWH, Virtual Event: Monday, May 11, 8:15 a.m. –…
Ravi Thadhani, MD, CAO, Mass General Brigham; Professor of Medicine and Faculty Dean for Academic Programs, HMS Great Broadcasting services, expertise on the top Management of the Event 100% no room to improve Recovery COVID Patients
Jan Garfinkle, Founder & Manager Partner, Arboretum Ventures Can you close a deal with out meeting management team Known funds will prevail vs new funds Parma adjacencies vs medical devices Telehealth is of interest GI Cardiovascular
Phillip Gross, Managing Director, Adage Capital Management Clinical Trial issues Inflating value of Biotech because therapeutic related to COVID gives a boost 90 programs in clinical trials on Vaccine
early stage if the cloud exist Medical profession: Healthcare system is hurting revenue loss new technologies clinical trials will be changing like for COVID Sharing data will accelerate science
Investing During and After the Coronavirus Crisis Kitterman Partners Innovation Fund Jan Garfinkle @ArboretumVentures Phillip Gross @AdageCapital Christopher Viehbacher
Transportation and elevators – social distancing – impossible Global change enormous Telemedicine ramp up Academic center Telemedicine will prevail more resilient Health care system dialogue and communications across countries
Matt Sause, President and CEO, Roche Diagnostics Corporation Serology – more people become infected active infection Partnership between FDA and the manufactures In the US scaling – infrastructure in place is a must
Supply chain, more preparedness, robustness of the supply chain Buying supply in China vs US based stockpiling by governments not only at the Hospital level vs JIT shocks to the system
Re-opening the economy requires Testing for certification of health Testing bringing confidence PCR – have or have not viral proteins: 5Millions a week, June 10 million tests antibody testing
James Brink, MD, Radiology, MGH; Juan M. Taveras Professor of Radiology, HMS social determinant of care – communities not able to social distance, multiple languages Radiology: Rapid evolution of pandemic MGB – Standardizations
Matt Sause, President and CEO, Roche Diagnostics Corporation Serology – more people become infected active infection Partnership between FDA and the manufactures In the US scaling – infrastructure in place is a must
James Brink, MD, Radiology, MGH; Juan M. Taveras Professor of Radiology, HMS social determinant of care – communities not able to social distance, multiple languages Radiology: Rapid evolution of pandemic MGB – Standardizations
John Iafrate, MD, PhD, Vice Chair, Academic Affairs, MGH; Professor, Pathology, HMS Ability for Rapid testing was not in existence in the US CDC Test deployed BD and Roche diagnostics will recipients and donors of antibodies
Telemedicine collection of samples outside the hospital Testing if a patient had – serology – antibody – past exposure Testing if a patient has antigen detection testing molecular test
David Brown, MD, Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine, MGH; MGH Trustees Professor of Emergency Medicine, HMS new surges of some disease after Re-opening Sensitivity of test for ill patient Demand for Urgent Care will decline
Julie Lankiewicz @BoseHealth EKG between patients no more mitigation of care – Brand new prescriptions for Anxiety and burnout Digital solution to replace medications – audio content to avoid pharmacology methods of relaxation
Infection threat – Intubation – Tent for airosolize – trap air in the hood manage Emergence Health OUT side of EM at Hospital Rapid testing will continue to be central in Emergency Care
Bernd Montag, PhD, CEO, Siemens Healthineers Keep present business and the emerging needs for technologies Serology Test Antibody Test genomic testing 50% employees work from home that will remain as such because it working very well
Mike Mahoney, CEO, Boston Scientific China 6% of Sales Employees – 148 Counties support hospitals – 57% of volume down Innovations by business model innovations – Remote physicians training in Japan by European experts in OR
Ross Zafonte, DO, SVP, Research Education and Medical Affairs, SRN; Earle P. and Ida S. Charlton Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, HMS
Collaborate and move forward Interdisciplinary team: Physical therapy help quickly tech to communicate with families Ready need information to stay ahead of the curve New normal ability to expand contract
CEO, Biogen Lessons from COVID-19: Delay in clinical trials because Patients are fearing Hospital admission – Stroke patient did not go to Hospital Biogen is joining the fight against COVID Neuro-immunology is strength – remain focus
Michel Vounatsos, CEO, Biogen Venture community supportive to be on the safe side employees tested every evenings to prevent rebound of the pandemic Pandemic is acceleration progress technologies new drugs Biogen will lead new model
Keeping Priority on the Biggest Diseases Moderator: Jean-François Formela, MD, Partner, Atlas Venture Michel Vounatsos, CEO, Biogen Short term $10Billion dedicated to research Blood Bank and
Amy Abernethy, MD, PhD, Principal Deputy Commissioner & Acting CIO, FDA Future – common tools, more efficient studies study protocols and study design evaluation efficient processes are alter become more effective global WHO NIH CDC
Identify diagnostics for clinical definition of a virus unknown treatment to be developed Sick patients in need for treatment clinicians need the Tx FDA and the hospitals are flexible in responding
Insights on Pandemics and Health Care from the National Security Community General (Ret) Keith Alexander, Co-CEO, IronNet Cybersecurity #Speed#Information#DataAnalytics#HumanGenome data Cancer data #big data for training models
Limitations on Viral Testing Shortage of Swabs for testing Tech giant: Amazon, Walmart – global reach in supply chain new collaborations formed on super charge
Kieran Murphy, CEO, GE Healthcare Manufacturing facilities in China communicate the situation business customers needs buyers Future for Biotech industry: Modular systems deploy rapidly, test vaccine, SPEED is everything productivity
Kieran Murphy, CEO, GE Healthcare (1) CT in a BOX – 42 Slices in a container – no exposure to radiation in prefabricated rooms in field hospital requiring no contact with clinicians and rapid response (2) #command center John Hopkins
Kieran Murphy, CEO, GE Healthcare Quadruple the production and enter new contracts, crisis exposed weaknesses in supply chain of many products Shortage of PPE was not expected, flexibility trusted relations with GE Health Suppliers
Kieran Murphy, CEO, GE Healthcare Partnership GE Health & MGH COVID-19 Innovations and Customers needs: Ventilators and ICU Cloud application with Microsoft to save PPE and Labor, monitor several ICU rooms at once by technology
Negative pressure applied on materials as second line of protection beyond PPE CPAP to be used weaning from Ventilators to CPAP Environment to be protected from air born pathogens
Teresa Wilson, Architect at Colliers Physical Design of the facility and rooms – use design to minimize Hospital infections clean vs dirty functions room kept cleaned, how long it takes to clean, where is the sink hands free, modular
How to establish the New normal Surveillance new sources of infection Operations under uncertainty learned to be effective with data monitoring, training, facility adaptation to new roles
Human Testing at Home vs in ER 1 in 10,000 vs all populations Data to AI application SW providers are stewards Open source no conflict of interest no discussion on profits Each country will have own lessens