Healthcare Unfiltered

Nathan Vardi, managing editor at MarketWatch, and author of the new book “For Blood and Money: Billionaires, Biotech, and the Quest for a Blockbuster Drug,” is the guest of honor on today’s show. Nathan divulges on what happened behind closed doors for the creation of BTK inhibitors. Everything at the intersection of Wall Street, investigators, doctors, regulatory agencies, investors, and VC is detailed. He begins by explaining the inspiration to cover this story and how willing individuals were to speak on the record, describes in detail a few of the nuances of and feelings toward specific characters, provides examples of the role that luck plays in cancer drug development, and opines on the FDA’s challenge of approving the right drugs for market, among many other fascinating topics. Read more about “For Blood and Money: Billionaires, Biotech, and the Quest for a Blockbuster Drug.” https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393540956 Check out Chadi’s website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/ Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on Youtube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA

Few drugs in oncology have transformed the way we take care of patients. Ibrutinib is one such drug, and it belongs to a class called "BTK inhibitors" In this episode, Chadi captures the story of developing the drug through the eyes of Dr. Jeff Sharman, a prolific investigator and researcher; he is the director of research at the Willamette Valley Cancer Institute as well as the medical director of hematology research for The US Oncology Network. Dr. Sharman begins by discussing the dynamics of opening clinical trials throughout the US Oncology Network, then shares his career choice to move into the community setting, how a research idea he came up with led him down a path of being discouraged by the academic research world, his experience treating the first ever patient in the world with ibrutinib, and the underpinnings of the biotech world. More on his story and the drug development dynamics are described in the fascinating book "For Blood and Money," authored by Nathan Vardi, who is next week’s guest. These two back-to-back episodes will make you think, pause, and reflect. Check out Chadi’s website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/ Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on Youtube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA

Jennifer Fried, MBA, most recently the CEO of ExplORer Surgical, joins the show to share her story as a co-founder of a successful startup health technology company. She begins by telling her inspiration to start the company with her partner, when and how operating room workflow and efficiency was discovered as an area of unmet need, the steps she took to create the software platform solution and how it functions, struggles she faced when facing potential investors, how the pandemic propelled the platform from a “nice to have” to a “must have,” why the business was eventually sold, and what the lessons learned were from the whole experience. Check out Chadi’s website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/ Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on Youtube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA

What do we know about various diets and their association with cancer? Have you ever wondered what the evidence shows? To answer this important question, Chadi hosts two specialists from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: Urvi Shah, MD, hematologist oncologist (myeloma expert and a cancer survivor herself), and Neil Lyengar, MD, medical oncologist (breast cancer expert). They discuss whether there’s a direct cause-and-effect relationship between lack of exercise and cancer diagnoses and alcohol/food consumption and cancer diagnoses, methodologies of studying these relationships in the breast and myeloma spaces, lifestyle and dietary interventions they are studying, how Keto and plant-based diets factor into the discussion, and a whole lot more. Read their publication in JAMA Oncology. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/2794147 Check out Chadi’s website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/ Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on Youtube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA

Scott Eggener, MD, University of Chicago, and Jonathan Epstein, MD, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, join the show to debate whether Gleason Score 6 prostate cancer should be renamed to non-cancer. The trio hit on what should happen upon diagnosis and Gleason grade 6, which patients should be offered active surveillance, the benefits and risks of not calling this diagnosis “cancer,” how often and how frequently to biopsy, overscreening, and many other discussion points. Read Dr. Eggener’s editorial in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. https://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/JCO.22.00123 Read Dr Epstein’s response in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. https://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/JCO.22.00926 Check out Chadi’s website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/ Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on Youtube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA

Chadi is delighted and honored to host an icon and pioneer in precision medicine and the molecular understanding of cancer as we know it: Ray Kurzrock, MD, FACP, Center Associate Director and Professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin as well as CMO of the WIN consortium. Nobody knows the history of precision medicine like Ray does. She was doubted when she started, but her resilience and perseverance led to unprecedented progress that she led along with her mentors, mentees, and colleagues. She details her early appointment to leading the phase I trials at MD Anderson Cancer Center and developing a protocol for matching targeted therapy trials to the right patients, the origins of the term “precision medicine,” resistance to precision medicine and genomics by different stakeholders, how accelerated approvals are better suited for precision medicine versus randomized controlled trials, and a host of other topics in this riveting and spirited dialogue. We owe much of our current understanding of cancer as a molecularly driven disease to Ray as she had an immeasurable impact on the field. Please visit chadinabhan.com and check out more features. Don't forget to subscribe, like, rate, and share with your friends and colleagues.

To educate on oncology in the Arab world—home to over 400 million people—Chadi welcomes a new and renowned guest: Humaid AlShamsi, MD, President of the Emirates Oncology Society and Adjunct Clinical Professor of Oncology at the University of Sharjah (UAE). Dr AlShamsi shares his unique journey training as an oncologist all over the world before returning to the UAE, initial challenges he encountered transforming care upon returning to his home country, and his detailed experience writing his book “Cancer in the Arab World.” He also describes the cancer network he helped build across his country, how cancer chemotherapy is prescribed and reimbursed, how physicians are paid, training and fellowship opportunities, clinical trial availability, and a whole lot more. Read more about “Cancer in the Arab World.” https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-16-7945-2 Check out Chadi’s website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/ Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on Youtube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA

To shed light on the differences in oncologic care between the US and the EU, Chadi invites a returning guest as well as a newcomer: Jarushka Naidoo, MBBCH, MD, Chair of the Thoracic Oncology Division, Beaumont RCSI Cancer Centre (Dublin, Ireland), and Marina Chiara Garassino, MD, Professor of Medicine, University of Chicago Medicine. The trio discuss discrepancies in diagnostics and pathology, how tissue samples are handled at molecular laboratories, treatment (oral and intravenous) and biopsy availability due to regulatory approvals, palliative care and hospice, academic and industry clinical trials and funding, and physician lifestyle and expectations. Check out Chadi’s website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/ Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on Youtube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA

In his second appearance on the show, Christopher Booth, MD, Professor in the Departments of Oncology and Medicine as well as a Health Services Researcher, Queen's University (Canada), shares his unique career path and early considerations of conflicts of interest in the medical world, how the influences of pharma relationships are more subtle than expected, whether you can be a clinical trialist without working with pharma, and how the system can be changed to truly benefit patients. Additionally, Chadi and Dr. Booth hit on painpoints including patient enrollment, pharma-sponsored conference sessions, satellite symposiums, patient advocacy groups and advocacy societies, global relevancy of “suboptimal” control arms in clinical trials, and more. Check out Chadi’s website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/ Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on Youtube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA

To tackle some of the burning questions and concerns in global medicine—specifically in radiology, diagnostics, and AI—Chadi hosts a Healthcare Unfiltered mainstay as well as a new guest: Saurabh Jha, MD, radiologist at the University of Pennsylvania and self-proclaimed “global radiology enthusiast,” and Prashant Warier, co-founder and the CEO of Qure AI. The trio begin by detailing the development of AI in underserved countries for the diagnosis of tuberculosis and other diseases, continue by sharing the inspiration and mission of a trip Saurabh and Prashant took to Nepal to improve the health and well-being of the Nepalese people through diagnostic AI, and finish by holding a larger conversation on screening and diagnostic concerns for other underserved populations around the world. Check out Chadi’s website for all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes and other content. www.chadinabhan.com/ Watch all Healthcare Unfiltered episodes on Youtube. www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA