Research Set to Expand as Federal Government Considers Rescheduling Cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III with Phil Johnston Johnston Associates TRANSCRIPT
Release Date: 05/13/2024
New Gut-Brain Signaling Drug Targets Prader-Willi Syndrome with Dr. Tien Lee Aardvark Therapeutics TRANSCRIPT
Empowered Patient Podcast
Dr. Tien Lee, Founder and CEO of Aardvark Therapeutics, draws a clear distinction between appetite and hunger and the implications for treating metabolic conditions and managing weight. The Aardvark lead drug candidate, an oral bitter taste receptor agonist designed to activate the gut-brain connection to turn off hunger, is showing effectiveness in treating Prader-Willi Syndrome and general obesity. There are also signs that this drug could be effective for those using GLP-1s to avoid nausea and prevent rebound weight gain experienced after discontinuing GLP-1 drugs. Tien explains,...
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New Gut-Brain Signaling Drug Targets Prader-Willi Syndrome with Dr. Tien Lee Aardvark Therapeutics
Empowered Patient Podcast
Dr. Tien Lee, Founder and CEO of Aardvark Therapeutics, draws a clear distinction between appetite and hunger and the implications for treating metabolic conditions and managing weight. The Aardvark lead drug candidate, an oral bitter taste receptor agonist designed to activate the gut-brain connection to turn off hunger, is showing effectiveness in treating Prader-Willi Syndrome and general obesity. There are also signs that this drug could be effective for those using GLP-1s to avoid nausea and prevent rebound weight gain experienced after discontinuing GLP-1 drugs. Tien explains,...
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New Hepatitis B Oral Treatment Blocks Viral Integration and Progression with Lawrence Blatt Aligos Therapeutics TRANSCRIPT
Empowered Patient Podcast
Lawrence Blatt, Chairman, President, and CEO of Aligos Therapeutics, describes the current gaps in treating the hepatitis B virus and how the disease can potentially lead to end-stage liver disease and liver cancer. Current therapies were initially developed for HIV and can suppress the virus but not eliminate or prevent the disease. The lead Aligos drug candidate blocks all steps of viral replication and prevents the virus from integrating into infected liver cells, where it can activate cancer-causing genes. Lawrence explains, "Hepatitis B virus is actually the most prevalent chronic...
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New Hepatitis B Oral Treatment Blocks Viral Integration and Progression with Lawrence Blatt Aligos Therapeutics
Empowered Patient Podcast
Lawrence Blatt, Chairman, President, and CEO of Aligos Therapeutics, describes the current gaps in treating the hepatitis B virus and how the disease can potentially lead to end-stage liver disease and liver cancer. Current therapies were initially developed for HIV and can suppress the virus but not eliminate or prevent the disease. The lead Aligos drug candidate blocks all steps of viral replication and prevents the virus from integrating into infected liver cells, where it can activate cancer-causing genes. Lawrence explains, "Hepatitis B virus is actually the most prevalent chronic...
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Reality Check from Biotech Leaders on Using AI in Drug Discovery with BioXcel Therapeutics Gain Therapeutics iBio TRANSCRIPT
Empowered Patient Podcast
This roundtable on the role of AI in the biotech sector features Frank Yocca, Senior VP and Chief Scientific Officer at BioXcel Therapeutics, Joanne Taylor, Senior VP for Research at Gain Therapeutics, and Martin Brenner, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer at iBio. The conversation covers the historical adoption of AI in biotech, its current use in drug discovery, and future possibilities. AI is not a new phenomenon in biotech and has evolved from data processing to sophisticated models that can screen vast amounts of data. There is a critical need for high-quality, structured data to...
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Reality Check from Biotech Leaders on Using AI in Drug Discovery with BioXcel Therapeutics Gain Therapeutics iBio
Empowered Patient Podcast
This roundtable on the role of AI in the biotech sector features Frank Yocca, Senior VP and Chief Scientific Officer at BioXcel Therapeutics, Joanne Taylor, Senior VP for Research at Gain Therapeutics, and Martin Brenner, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer at iBio. The conversation covers the historical adoption of AI in biotech, its current use in drug discovery, and future possibilities. AI is not a new phenomenon in biotech and has evolved from data processing to sophisticated models that can screen vast amounts of data. There is a critical need for high-quality, structured data to...
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Developing Multi-Antigen Vaccines for Immunocompromised Patients with David Dodd GeoVax TRANSCRIPT
Empowered Patient Podcast
David Dodd, CEO of GeoVax, highlights the need for next-generation vaccines, specifically multi-antigen and T cell-focused technologies, to provide better protection for immunocompromised populations. Their pipeline includes a COVID-19 vaccine candidate, an Mpox/Smallpox vaccine, and a gene therapy for solid tumors. A priority for GeoVax is to develop new manufacturing processes to significantly accelerate vaccine production, increase yield, and reduce costs. David explains, "Multi-antigen vaccines become critically important, especially for populations for whom the existing approach in...
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Developing Multi-Antigen Vaccines for Immunocompromised Patients with David Dodd GeoVax
Empowered Patient Podcast
David Dodd, CEO of GeoVax, highlights the need for next-generation vaccines, specifically multi-antigen and T cell-focused technologies, to provide better protection for immunocompromised populations. Their pipeline includes a COVID-19 vaccine candidate, an Mpox/Smallpox vaccine, and a gene therapy for solid tumors. A priority for GeoVax is to develop new manufacturing processes to significantly accelerate vaccine production, increase yield, and reduce costs. David explains, "Multi-antigen vaccines become critically important, especially for populations for whom the existing approach in...
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Virtual Support Groups Remove Barriers Encourage Sharing Honest Experiences to Fight Misinformation with Rick Davis AnCan TRANSCRIPT
Empowered Patient Podcast
Rick Davis, patient advocate and Founder of AnCan, is building and operating virtual peer-to-peer support groups to allow patients to connect with others who have direct experience with their condition. These groups can provide accurate information, foster connections among participants, and serve as a check on medical misinformation. With the growing acceptance of virtual meetings, this approach overcomes geographic, physical, and psychosocial barriers that might otherwise prevent participants from attending on-site meetings. Rick explains, "The mission is to make each person and each...
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Virtual Support Groups Remove Barriers Encourage Sharing Honest Experiences to Fight Misinformation with Rick Davis AnCan
Empowered Patient Podcast
Rick Davis, patient advocate and Founder of AnCan, is building and operating virtual peer-to-peer support groups to allow patients to connect with others who have direct experience with their condition. These groups can provide accurate information, foster connections among participants, and serve as a check on medical misinformation. With the growing acceptance of virtual meetings, this approach overcomes geographic, physical, and psychosocial barriers that might otherwise prevent participants from attending on-site meetings. Rick explains, "The mission is to make each person and each...
info_outlinePhil Johnston, President and CEO of Johnston Associates, and an advisor to EO Care, the market leader in providing clinically-guided cannabis use. Phil discusses the potential for research from the reclassification of cannabis from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug. With current Federal restrictions on cannabis, research has not been conducted on the potential therapeutic use for pain relief, depression, PTSD, and other conditions. With a change in classification, researchers can develop protocols, test different cannabis strains, run clinical trials, and determine dosage and form for therapies.
Phil explains, "So changing the Schedule from I to III is a game-changer because it's going to allow for research in the cannabis area in terms of dosage, what's the appropriate dosage, what kind of marijuana should be used for whatever ails you. There's a particular emphasis, of course, on pain relief and sleeplessness and depression. It appears that cannabis can have a very serious positive impact on those maladies, but we need much more research, and that's where we come in. That's what we're trying to focus on with EO Care."
"If you talk to any MD in the country, they'll tell you that they didn't learn anything about cannabis in medical school, and that was because of the Federal ban. And so there hasn't been a lot of research done. It's anecdotal at this point, such as my wife's situation, and what we need is for the Federal Government and the states to lead the way to make sure that there's funding for research and that medical schools are including that in their curricula. The research will involve what normally is involved with drugs, which is trials to determine exactly what the best treatments would be."
"Dosing is very important to figure out how much of it one needs, given whatever the specific problem is. And none of that research has been done in this country yet. Now, we're doing a sweep of international studies. It turns out that Canada, which legalized this a long time ago, has done trials and has some research, which we can adapt. However, that work has to be done, and it has to be done within medical institutions in the United States as well."
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