Council for American Medical Innovation

December 14, 2009 | Providence, Rhode Island

On Monday, December 14, 2009, the Council for American Medical Innovation and New England Biotech Association co-hosted the Best & Brightest Forum on Medical Innovation at the Brown University medical research facility in Providence, Rhode Island.  The event drew a crowd of nearly 100 medical innovation stakeholders, including representatives from government, industry, academia, research, education, patient groups, venture capital and the media.

Council Chairman Dick Gephardt moderated the event, which featured a keynote address by Congressman Patrick Kennedy and a panel discussion with:

• Leonard Bell, M.D., CEO, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
• David N. Cicilline, Mayor, Providence, RI
• Steve Evangelista, President and CEO, Arthritis Foundation of Northern and Southern New England
• Patrice Dudley-Aviles, Director, Human Resources, Amgen
• George Nee, President, RI AFL-CIO
• Peter Snyder, Ph.D., Vice President of Research, Lifespan
• Edward J. Wing, M.D., Dean, Brown University Medical School

Broadcast and print media outlets covering the event toured the facility and interviewed Congressman Kennedy, Dick Gephardt, and other panelists. Media attendees included:

• Providence Journal, which ran a front page story on December 15 and posted a blog on the event on December 15
• Providence Business News, which ran a story on December 14
• Associated Press, whose story was carried in the Nashua Telegraph and ABC News Online.
• Rhode Island Monthly
• WJAR TV 10, the NBC affiliate, which aired a story on the event during the six-o-clock news on December 14.

Additionally, an Associated Press announcement of the forum ran in the Boston Herald on December 13, and the co-sponsors issued a press release on December 14.

Highlights from the Discussion:

Brown University Medical School Dean, Dr. Edward Wing, welcomed the audience spoke about the exciting pace of medical innovation in Rhode Island – particularly in Providence's new "knowledge district."  He emphasized the impact of advancements in medical innovation on patients with dreaded diseases like HIV/AIDS, which was once a death sentence and is now a manageable chronic disease.

Dick Gephardt opened by defining the impact of medical innovation through his personal experience as a child when his neighbor was diagnosed with polio.  His entire community was terrified of polio – until the polio vaccine was developed.  Medical innovation has the power to wipe away fear and bring hope to patients around the world.  And, at the same time, medical innovation creates jobs and fuels our economy.  Mr. Gephardt introduced Representative Patrick Kennedy, calling him "a great friend and one of the best public servants in the U.S. today." 

Congressman Patrick Kennedy thanked Mr. Gephardt, the audience and event sponsors.  As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Kennedy spoke about his dedication to identifying federal "pots of money" for Rhode Island that are crucial to the state's life sciences economy.  In addition to securing federal funds, he emphasized the importance of bringing all stakeholders in the state together to invest in this effort.  Too often, he said, Rhode Island's discoveries are taken by investors and implemented elsewhere.  He said there is no reason why Providence can't become a "medical city," but said, "We need to own our own medical innovation" in order to get the economic benefit. 

"When my uncle was president," Rep. Kennedy said, "he challenged our country to put a man on the moon – and our leadership doubled down on investment to reach results.  Medical science is at a precipice where we could really reach results if we double down on our investment now."  Rep. Kennedy closed by expressing his hope that we can realize a greater investment in medical research because in the end, this is about all of our personal health care and saving lives.

Following Congressman Kennedy's remarks, Mr. Gephardt described the work of the Council for American Medical Innovation over the past year, and introduced Council President, Debra Lappin, who was in the audience.  Then, he introduced the panelists saying he looked forward to their contributions to the Council's policy agenda.

Dr. Wing highlighted our nation's strengths in basic research, and the importance of America's peer-review system.  He called for greater support for basic science.

Steven Evangelista said that, as a representative for Rhode Island citizens suffering from chronic arthritis, he spends a lot of time working on patient programs.  But, he also said he's been working hard to ensure policies are in place to encourage new medical breakthroughs.  He cited the issue of biosimilars and follow on biologics, and the recent fight in Congress to ensure that we provide companies with a large enough window of data exclusivity to realize a return on their investment and incentivize future investments. 

George Nee, President of the RI AFL CIO, stressed the importance of making science "cool" in order to attract the best and brightest to pursue careers in the field.  He proposed a campaign to elevate researchers, doctors, and scientists working to find answers to the pain and suffering of disease to be our national heroes, and suggested that our national priority from now on should be to cure diseases.

Patrice Dudley-Aviles said that Amgen has benefitted greatly from strong partnerships with outside institutions in Rhode Island.  "When I think about jobs, partnerships are so helpful," she said, "because when I look at new medicines and advances, we're going to be looking at people in this building to come and join us." 

Providence Mayor David Cicillini emphasized the power of medical innovation to improve the lives of people all over the world, and called for the city to realign incentives – starting with an expedited permitting process to support the growth of the city's life sciences economy.  He said we need to examine the way the federal government can support translational research, and work toward realigning the process.  He called for a national "Institute of Innovation" to help align and focus federal investments, particularly to create a new system for the different stages in the research process.  He also said a venture capital fund would be very important.

Dr. Leonard Bell from Alexion Pharmaceuticals said that challenging the nation to cure disease is a lofty goal, but not lofty enough.  He said that as long as patients don't have access to health care, breakthroughs in medical innovation won't mean a thing.  He also said that private companies who bring basic research past the lab face incredible expenses as well as incredible risk in doing so.  He asked, "Without the assurance that patients will have access to treatments after they are created, then why would we even invest in these new treatments and cures?  We need to focus on the end of the game."  But, he said, if we can do that, Alexion and Rhode Island in general will be able to make a lot of medical progress and create "jobs, jobs, jobs."

Dr. Peter Snyder described the Lifespan hospital system's investment in the life sciences economy, and talked about the vast potential for medical innovation in Rhode Island.  But, he said, "We need to break down the silos that we have created for our institutions.  We can't afford this in Rhode Island any longer.  We have to collaborate, we have to spread the risk and spread the benefit" of medical breakthroughs.  He agreed that basic research at NIH is invaluable, yet, he said, private industry investment currently dwarfs public investment in research, and some of the most innovative therapies and discoveries are coming from private industry – so, we need to "diversify our portfolio."  Dr. Snyder lamented that a  local company is doing their clinical trials in Europe because of more favorable policies, and said we need to build that infrastructure in Rhode Island so that those investments and benefits will be made here.

Rep. Kennedy added to the discussion saying that a lot of federal investment in medical innovation is currently focused on brain science due to the issues veterans face due to brain trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder.  Since Rhode Island has some of the best neuroscience in the nation, the state is well-positioned to collaborate with the federal government in this arena.

Following panelists' remarks, Mr. Gephardt facilitated a question & answer session, which centered on the following topics:

• Breaking down silos between medical research institutions to encourage collaboration between pharmaceutical companies, patients, government, academia, etc.
• Legal restrictions and regulations that bar various institutions from sharing data.
• The need to identify barriers (i.e. litigation, financial capital, over-regulation) and introduce legislation at the local level to make it exceptionally attractive to come to Rhode Island. 
• The promise of gene "biobanks" and whether they suggest the potential for testing drugs in smaller portions of the population to reduce the cost of bringing personalized drugs to market.
• Competition from other states or countries who are taking the opportunity to invest in this sector. 
• Attraction of going abroad for regulatory approval.
• The role of the entrepreneur in moving discovery from bench to bedside. 
• Lack of NIH funding today to provide adequate capital to bring discoveries to market.
• Job creation. 
• Rhode Island's unique hospital system, which positions the state to test and market new ideas. 
• The need for new facilities.

Mr. Gephardt closed by sharing a personal story that explains why he is so dedicated to advancing medical innovation.  In 1972, his son was diagnosed with terminal cancer. But, a doctor suggested trying an experimental triple drug therapy along with aggressive radiation – and now his son, Matt, is 39 and has two sons of his own. "I get it," he said, "and all of you have stories like mine, so let's get about the business of medical innovation."