Targeting Macrophages Instead of T Cells to Overcome Treatment-Resistant Cancers with Dr. Petri Bono Faron Pharmaceuticals TRANSCRIPT
Release Date: 12/08/2025
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...
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Healthcare Plans Using Analytics to Improve Health Literacy Patient Engagement and Outcomes with Bob Farrell mPulse TRANSCRIPT
Empowered Patient Podcast
Bob Farrell, CEO of mPulse, is using digital technology, data analytics and AI to improve the relationship between health plans and their members in order to improve health outcomes and operational efficiency. Bob introduces the concept of HXI, Health Experience and Insights, as a framework that unites data, intelligence, and personalized communication to provide tools to enage members at the best time and by the preferred methods with appropriate information at the right time. Analyzing claims data enables plans to identify high-risk patients, promote preventive care, and build health...
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Healthcare Plans Using Analytics to Improve Health Literacy Patient Engagement and Outcomes with Bob Farrell mPulse
Empowered Patient Podcast
Bob Farrell, CEO of mPulse, is using digital technology, data analytics and AI to improve the relationship between health plans and their members in order to improve health outcomes and operational efficiency. Bob introduces the concept of HXI, Health Experience and Insights, as a framework that unites data, intelligence, and personalized communication to provide tools to enage members at the best time and by the preferred methods with appropriate information at the right time. Analyzing claims data enables plans to identify high-risk patients, promote preventive care, and build health...
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AI-Powered Drug Discovery Platform Transforms Broad Antiviral Development with Rick Pierce Decoy Therapeutics TRANSCRIPT
Empowered Patient Podcast
Rick Pierce, Co-Founder and CEO of Decoy Therapeutics. is using AI and machine learning to accelerate drug discovery and is developing broad-acting antivirals using peptide conjugates that target a shared invasion mechanism of hundreds of viruses. The company is using small language models and a high-speed peptide synthesizer to dramatically reduce drug creation time. Rick predicts that the future of drug discovery will combine AI-driven design with advanced biological models, such as organoids, to better predict drug toxicity and efficacy. Rick explains, "Decoy Therapeutics was founded...
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AI-Powered Drug Discovery Platform Transforms Broad Antiviral Development with Rick Pierce Decoy Therapeutics
Empowered Patient Podcast
Rick Pierce, Co-Founder and CEO of Decoy Therapeutics. is using AI and machine learning to accelerate drug discovery and is developing broad-acting antivirals using peptide conjugates that target a shared invasion mechanism of hundreds of viruses. The company is using small language models and a high-speed peptide synthesizer to dramatically reduce drug creation time. Rick predicts that the future of drug discovery will combine AI-driven design with advanced biological models, such as organoids, to better predict drug toxicity and efficacy. Rick explains, "Decoy Therapeutics was founded...
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Concierge Healthcare Services for Employees of Self-Insured Companies with Dr. Kumar Dharmarajan World Class Health TRANSCRIPT
Empowered Patient Podcast
Dr. Kumar Dharmarajan, cardiologist and geriatrician and Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer at World Class Health, is bringing concierge healthcare to employees of self-insured companies. The platform includes a global network of top-tier doctors and nurse navigators. Directly negotiating with providers reduces costs and reduces administrative and financial friction for patients seeking planned procedures. The model also reduces friction for physicians by providing them with complete patient records and ensuring prompt payment. Kumar explains, "We are a global,...
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Concierge Healthcare Services for Employees of Self-Insured Companies with Dr. Kumar Dharmarajan World Class Health
Empowered Patient Podcast
Dr. Kumar Dharmarajan, cardiologist and geriatrician and Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer at World Class Health, is bringing concierge healthcare to employees of self-insured companies. The platform includes a global network of top-tier doctors and nurse navigators. Directly negotiating with providers reduces costs and reduces administrative and financial friction for patients seeking planned procedures. The model also reduces friction for physicians by providing them with complete patient records and ensuring prompt payment. Kumar explains, "We are a global,...
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Direct-to-Consumer Health Tools and AI Making Medical Information Accessible with Brent Dial Beek Health TRANSCRIPT
Empowered Patient Podcast
Brent Dial, Founder and CEO of Beek Health, has built a platform that addresses patient information fragmentation by aggregating data from patient portals and providing direct access to lab testing. Health literacy is key to preventing chronic diseases, and AI is being used to scale the delivery of personalized health information. Identifying relevant biomarkers and early warning signs supports proactive health management that can alter long-term health outcomes. Brent explains, "Beek Health is re-imagining healthcare by finally putting the individual at the center of their health journey....
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Direct-to-Consumer Health Tools and AI Making Medical Information Accessible with Brent Dial Beek Health
Empowered Patient Podcast
Brent Dial, Founder and CEO of Beek Health, has built a platform that addresses patient information fragmentation by aggregating data from patient portals and providing direct access to lab testing. Health literacy is key to preventing chronic diseases, and AI is being used to scale the delivery of personalized health information. Identifying relevant biomarkers and early warning signs supports proactive health management that can alter long-term health outcomes. Brent explains, "Beek Health is re-imagining healthcare by finally putting the individual at the center of their health journey....
info_outlineDr. Petri Bono, Chief Medical Officer at Faron Pharmaceuticals, describes the development of bexmarilimad, a novel first-in-class immunotherapy that, unlike existing checkpoint inhibitors targeting T cells, targets the Clever 1 receptor on macrophages. This treatment is designed to reprogram the tumor microenvironment by switching marcophages from suppressive to active, enabling the patient's immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells. The primary disease target is higher-risk Myelodysplastic syndromes because the cancer cells in virtually all MDS patients express the Clever 1 target.
Petri explains, "We are developing a completely new type of treatment. Currently, cancer patients are treated with immunotherapies called checkpoint inhibitors that target immune checkpoints. But our approach is targeting completely different cells, not T cells, but rather macrophages. And that's why we are first in class with a novel mode of action. And that's why it's important that these macrophages are shown to, for example, contribute to treatment resistance in many tumors."
"Clever 1 actually is a receptor that was identified about 20 years ago. It found a certain macrophage as well as myeloid cells. And Clever 1 keeps the immune system in a tolerant and suppressive state. In cancer, for example, these Clever 1-positive macrophages essentially help the malignancy grow instead of helping to fight against it. And then our approach is that we want to block Clever 1 with our monoclonal antibody, bexmarilimab. So those macrophages switch the phenotype into an active antigen, preventing a pro-inflammatory state, and this reawakens immune surveillance. It allows T cells in the system to actually recognize the malignant cells themselves as dangerous and mount a proper antitumor response. So, a completely new mode of action by targeting Clever 1, we are not just adding another cytotoxic mechanism. We are removing the immune break and enabling the patient's own immune system to do the job that it was originally designed to do."
#FaronPharmaceuticals #BloodCancer #MDS #MyelodysplasticSyndrome #HR-MDS #CancerResearch #novelimmunotherapy #Bexmarilimab #Clever1
