IDEA Collider: Innovation & Asymmetric Learning in Pharma

 (Now also released in paperback: https://amzn.to/3lWjo2B) Kat can be found at First Create The Media:  and on Twitter: @Kat_Arney Find out more about Rebel Cell here: https://www.rebelcellbook.com/about-rebel-cell-cancer-bookMany of us think of cancer as a contemporary killer, a disease of our own making caused by our modern lifestyles. But, as Kat Arney explains in her new book REBEL CELL: Cancer Evolution and the Science of Life, that perception just isn’t true. Although it might be rare in many species, cancer is the enemy lurking within almost every living creature. Why? Because cancer is a bug in the system of life. We get cancer because we can't not get it.Cancer has always been with us. It killed our hominid ancestors, the mammals they evolved from and the dinosaurs that trampled the ground before that. Tumours grow in pets, livestock and wild animals. Even tiny jelly-like Hydra - creatures that are little more than a tube full of water - can get cancer.Cancer starts when cells rebel against the social norms of the body, throwing off their molecular shackles and growing out of control in a shambolic mockery of normal life. This is why we can't avoid cancer: because the very genes that drive it are essential for life itself.The revolution has raged, on and off, for millions of years. But it was only in the twentieth century that doctors and scientists made any significant progress in understanding and treating cancer, and it is only in the past few decades that we’ve finally begun to kick the mob’s malignant arse.Now the game is changing. Scientists have infiltrated cancer's cellular rebellion and are finally learning its secrets. Seeing cancer in a new way – as rebel cells adapting and evolving within the landscape of the body – is pointing towards new ways of preventing and controlling cancer in the long term or even driving it to extinction altogether.In REBEL CELL, geneticist and science writer Kat Arney reveals that:Modern lifestyles can’t take all the blame – Cancer has been around for millions of years and affects almost all multicellular organisms, with some notable exceptions. Sponges and comb jellies are remarkably cancer-resistant, for example, although the reason why is still a mystery.Cancer cells are cheats that break the rules – From cells all the way up to human cities, societies function best when everyone obeys the rules. Cancer cells are cheats in the system, bending or completely breaking the rules to their advantage.Cancer is an inevitable part of life – Genetic alterations (mutations) are the fuel for evolution – the force that shaped all life on earth. But this same force is at work within cancer, enabling them to adapt and evolve resistance to treatment.Mutations are much more common than we thought – As we age, our bodies become a patchwork of mutated cells, yet most of these don’t become cancerous. The big question is why?The quest for a cure has derailed our thinking – Focusing on ‘magic bullets’ and pricey wonder drugs has led us away from potentially transformative approaches to preventing and treating cancer based on evolutionary ideas.REBEL CELL: Cancer Evolution and the Science of Life takes the reader back to the dawn of life on planet earth right up to the present day to get to the heart of what cancer really is and how by better understanding it we might one day overcome it.

As President of Novartis Oncology, Susanne Schaffert is pursuing a bold strategy to reimagine the research, development and commercialization of innovative treatments that will help improve and extend the lives of people with cancer and related blood disorders. Susanne has held positions of increasing seniority across a range of business areas during her career at Novartis, having first joined the company as a sales representative in Germany in 1995. The majority of her roles have been in oncology, where she has a passion for making a difference in the lives of patients. Prior to her current position, she served as President of Advanced Accelerator Applications, a Novartis company focused on the development of products for targeted radioligand therapy and precision imaging. Today, she leads more than 10 000 employees in 85 countries working to transform cancer care across four distinct therapeutic platforms. Susanne is a respected business leader and scientist who was featured in Fortune’s “Most Powerful Women International” list in both 2019 and 2020. She actively mentors women at Novartis and encourages them to seek leadership roles. Susanne has a background in science and holds a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Erlangen in Germany, but as a former ballet dancer, she is also passionate about the arts. This dual interest informs her leadership philosophy, which celebrates diversity of thought and ideas as one of the keys to bold innovation. Susanne also holds leadership positions in the broader pharmaceutical industry. She serves on the board and executive committee of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), and is vice chair of EFPIA’s Patient Access Committee. Susanne on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanne-schaffert-830b7053

Dan Skovronsky is the chief scientific officer of Eli Lilly and Company. He serves as senior vice president of science and technology and president of Lilly Research Laboratories. He also has responsibility for global business development. Dan joined Lilly in 2010 when the company acquired Avid Radiopharmaceuticals Inc., where he had been CEO since founding the company in 2004. At Lilly, Dan has held various roles, including vice president, tailored therapeutics; vice president, diabetes research; and most recently, senior vice president, clinical and product development. Dan completed his residency training in pathology and fellowship training in neuropathology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He received his M.D. from the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, in 2001 and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from University of Pennsylvania in 2000. Dan earned a Bachelor of Science in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University in 1994..

With so much at stake in the application of AI/ Machine Learning to pharma, biotech and medicine, this wonderful book touches on biases, systems of learning, and the choices we have to make to properly harness the power of what is possible. Email mike at ideapharma.com to enter a lottery to win a copy of the hardcover book, closing date 26th February.From the page at brianchristian.org: A jaw-dropping exploration of everything that goes wrong when we build AI systems and the movement to fix them. Today’s “machine-learning” systems, trained by data, are so effective that we’ve invited them to see and hear for us—and to make decisions on our behalf. But alarm bells are ringing. Recent years have seen an eruption of concern as the field of machine learning advances. When the systems we attempt to teach will not, in the end, do what we want or what we expect, ethical and potentially existential risks emerge. Researchers call this the alignment problem. Systems cull résumés until, years later, we discover that they have inherent gender biases. Algorithms decide bail and parole—and appear to assess Black and White defendants differently. We can no longer assume that our mortgage application, or even our medical tests, will be seen by human eyes. And as autonomous vehicles share our streets, we are increasingly putting our lives in their hands. The mathematical and computational models driving these changes range in complexity from something that can fit on a spreadsheet to a complex system that might credibly be called “artificial intelligence.” They are steadily replacing both human judgment and explicitly programmed software. In best-selling author Brian Christian’s riveting account, we meet the alignment problem’s “first-responders,” and learn their ambitious plan to solve it before our hands are completely off the wheel. In a masterful blend of history and on-the ground reporting, Christian traces the explosive growth in the field of machine learning and surveys its current, sprawling frontier. Readers encounter a discipline finding its legs amid exhilarating and sometimes terrifying progress. Whether they―and we―succeed or fail in solving the alignment problem will be a defining human story. The Alignment Problem offers an unflinching reckoning with humanity’s biases and blind spots, our own unstated assumptions and often contradictory goals. A dazzlingly interdisciplinary work, it takes a hard look not only at our technology but at our culture―and finds a story by turns harrowing and hopeful. Read more at: https://brianchristian.org/the-alignment-problem/

 Syn is an award winning music agency and creative solutio, providing music strategy, composition, sound design and sonic branding for advertising, cinema and television, as well as music supervision, licensing and music curation services and our studios record voiceover, ADR and narration.In this interview, we discuss the user experience (patient, physician), via sound, for healthcare and pharma environmentsMore information at https://syn.world

Great interview with Riccardo on CNBCFind out more about PTEN Research at https://www.ptenresearch.org

Covering a wide variety of topics, with a special focus on Novartis as one of the best examples of a learning organisation in pharma. On cultures of innovation, 'unbossing', decision making and measuring what matters John can be found on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-tsai-md-ab398b4/ or contacted by email at john_tsai.office at novartis.com

A discussion of The Playbook, from DiMe Society, Digital Clinical Measures Introducing the essential industry guide for successfully developing & deploying digital clinical measures across clinical research, clinical care, and public health https://playbook.dimesociety.org More on Andy (Andrea) Coravos here: http://www.andreacoravos.com More on Jen (Jennifer) Goldsack here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Goldsack More on DiMe Society here: https://www.dimesociety.org

Carinne Brouillon is a Member of the Board of Managing Directors, with responsibility for the Human Pharma Business Unit Professional milestones 2018 – 2019 Global Head of Therapeutic Areas, Boehringer Ingelheim 2014 – 2018 Head of Global Commercial Strategy Neuroscience at Janssen, Johnson & Johnson’s Pharmaceutical Company 2012 – 2018 President of Janssen Therapeutics and Member of the Janssen North America Leadership Team Edward Hæggström Born 1969. Finnish citizen. Co-founder of Nanoform, CEO and a member of the Management Team since 2015. Education: Ph.D. degree in applied physics from the University of Helsinki and a Master of Business Administration degree in innovation management from Helsinki University of Technology. Experience: Dr. Hæggström has, among others, been a professor at the University of Helsinki and Head of the Electronics Research Laboratory within the Department of Physics. He has previously held the role of visiting professor of physics at Harvard Medical School, visiting scholar (assistant professor) of physics at Stanford University and project leader at the CERN. Rob Scott, MD, a trained physician, has held leadership positions in global pharmaceutical companies for thirty years. During his career he has managed drug development teams responsible for highly successful pharmaceutical brands such as Norvasc, Lipitor, Repatha, Humira, Skyrizi and Rinvoq. Before retiring, his most recent position was Chief Medical Officer and Head of Development at AbbVie where he had oversight on all early and late-stage development programs. He was also responsible for a team of over 4,000 employees spanning 52 countries, a budget of close to $2 billion and programs involving approximately 40 new molecular entities. Before that, he was Vice President, Global Development TA Head and Head of Development Design Center at Amgen where he was responsible for the development of evolocumab (Repatha) the first approved PCSK9 inhibitor, ivabradine (Corlanor), to treat heart failure and omecamtiv mecarbil, a direct myosin activator for heart failure. From 2012 - 2016 he was a member of the US Food and Drug Administration’s Cardiovascular and Renal Drug Advisory Committee where he built strong relationships with senior FDA staff. Before Amgen, he held several leadership positions with emerging pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Dr. Scott is a graduate from the University of Cape Town, South Africa and started his career at Janssen as a Medical Advisor. He is a board member of Transclerate and a member of the PhRMA R&D Leadership Forum.

This episode replays some of a round table we held at JP Morgan, back when people used to travel... It features the voices of Mike Rea, in conversation with Linda Avey, Co-founder of 23andMe, and Curious, Inc, Amrit Chaudhuri, CEO, Mass Innovation Labs (now SmartLabs), Steve Holtzman, then CEO, Decibel Therapeutics, Raj Kannan then SVP, Global Franchise Head, Neurology & Immunology, EMD Serono, Michael Schrage, Research Fellow, MIT Center for Digital Business; Visiting Fellow, Imperial College Department of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Robert Urban, then Global Head, Johnson & Johnson Innovation Do head to our YouTube channel for more from this round table, and to see which voice belongs to which speaker...