Let's talk medical research

The Antidote team presented on how we’re helping medical researchers make progress, faster at the latest innovation conference

Over the weekend, Antidote’s VP of Engineering, Dean Sellis, and our Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Ed Godber, attended a favorite innovation conference: the Royal Society of Medicine’s Medical Innovations Summit. They were thrilled with the diverse array of topics covered and the fascinating group of innovators who attended, and they were happy to share perspective on the current state of medical research, and what Antidote is doing to change it.

Antidote executives discussed a whole new approach to patient engagement at the latest pharma conference, DPharm 2017.

Last week, we were honored to be Executive Sponsors at at the 7th Annual DPharm: Disruptive Innovations to Advance Clinical Trials conference in Boston. DPharm is a leading pharma conference that brings together innovators involved with clinical trials to share and discuss the latest ideas. Last week's event hosted more than 400 of the industry's most creative thinkers.

As Antidote arrives at DPharm 2017: Disruptive Innovations to Advance Clinical Trials conference, we’re excited to welcome nine new partners to our Connect Network.

We were fortunate to have a virtual chat with Tonya Winders, the President and CEO of Allergy & Asthma Network, to talk about preparing for the fall with asthma, the importance of an asthma action plan, and what new research she is most excited about. Read on to hear what she had to say, and visit the Allergy & Asthma Network website here.

Antidote is pleased to announce a new partnership with Lupus Colorado to help lupus patients and their loved ones match to clinical trial options quickly and easily. The organization will now be offering our powerful clinical trial search on its website.

In my role at Antidote, I am fortunate to meet patient and health advocates who are working to move the needle on the development of new treatments for a wide range of conditions. These advocates play a key role in raising awareness about their health conditions, engaging and empowering other patients to take a lead in making decisions about their own healthcare, and raising the visibility of the need for patient engagement across all levels of treatment development.

Our friends at Us Against Alzheimer’s recently announced that 27 Phase III and 8 Phase II Alzheimer’s disease drugs appear on track to launch in next 5 years. While it remains to be seen which, if any, of these drugs will prove successful, the mere fact that so much Alzheimer’s research is being done is big news for a community 5.4 million strong community that hasn’t seen a novel treatment approved by the FDA since 2003.

Last week, our SVP of Commercial Operations, Nandini Nayar, had the opportunity to speak at the Medical Affairs Leaders Forum in Princeton, NJ. While sharing our matching technology with the audience, she was encouraged and heartened not only by the interest the group took in the patient empowerment aspect of Antidote Match, but also by the overall focus on bringing stakeholders – including patients – together in unusual and unexpected ways.

Phyllis Kaplan has been living with type 1 diabetes for 43 years. Though she’s always been active in her care, in the past few years, she has become a patient advocate, writing a blog, fundraising for JDRF, becoming a Medtronic MiniMed brand ambassador, and actively participating in the diabetes online community. We first met Phyllis last year, when she discovered a clinical trial through Antidote. When we caught up with her last week, we were thrilled to hear that she has continued advocating for research, and even found and taken part in another clinical trial through Antidote.

Living with rare diseases is exceptionally challenging. After years of misdiagnosis, patients finally arrive at a diagnosis, and many times, there’s not even a treatment. We always say, “patients are looking for trials, and researchers are looking for patients.” Nowhere is that truer than in the rare diseases community. Often, patients aren’t just looking for a trial – they are looking for a shot at any treatment that might help them.