Arrival and Registration

Breakfast served and open to all summit attendees.

Welcome from STAT

Welcome Remarks

After Mila

Julia Vitarello’s daughter was given access to an experimental drug in what’s known as an ‘n of 1’ trial – a case where a new medicine would benefit so few patients that data can be collected from only one. Hear about the challenges of shifting one of drug development’s key paradigms in an era when gene-editing technologies like CRISPR could lead to more and more specific drugs for specific patients.

From Innovator to Entrepreneur

Since 2010, Feng Zhang has had a hand in inventing some of biotechnology’s most trailblazing new tools, not the least of which is CRISPR. But over the past few years, he’s been prolific in a different way, launching one company after another out of his laboratory. He’ll talk with STAT about his startups and vision for the future of CRISPR commercialization.

AI and the Future of Cancer Care

It’s today’s favorite buzzword across industries – artificial intelligence – and pharma is no exception. But what are the realities of this revolutionary tool in the world of cancer care? From early detection and personalized treatment strategies to improving health equity, the AI-driven future is already here. Learn how one company is harnessing the power of AI in transforming cancer research and care delivery.

What a Patient Advocate Learned When She Faced Cancer – Again

Decades ago Kathy Giusti was a top pharma executive when she developed multiple myeloma in her 30s. She created a patient group that sped the development of important medicines like Velcade and Revlimid. So what happened when she got cancer again?

COFFEE BREAK

Featuring book signing of “Fatal to Fearless: 12 Steps to Beating Cancer in a Broken Medical System” by Kathy Giusti. Books available for purchase during break.

Curing Allergies? Fighting Cancer? A Biotech Survivor’s Next Act

Hear about 36 years of battle scars and a new set of research goals from one of the drug industry’s biggest personalities. New data, controversial takes, and big ideas are guaranteed.

Can GLP-1s Help People with Addiction?

We know them as treatments for diabetes and obesity, but lately, it seems like there is no limit to the potential uses of new medicines like Wegovy. Anecdotes say they reduce desires for alcohol and smoking. Could they help people with substance use problems?

Putting the Patient in the Room

Medicine is being transformed by new technologies like cell and gene therapy, radiopharmaceuticals, and RNA therapeutics. The new challenge: getting innovation to the patients who need it. Learn how one company is working to address patient access by acting as if the patient is in the room with them at all times.

The Secrets of Biotech’s Buy Side

What makes the healthcare investing world go ’round? It’s the “buy side” — the analysts and portfolio managers who buy, sell (and short) biotech and pharma stocks. “Buysiders” don’t talk publicly much, but they do to STAT. Come hear from three healthcare investors about what they are thinking right now.

LUNCH

How Should the FDA Work with Patient Groups?

The influence of patient voices in the drug approval process continues to grow. Is it loud enough? Does it sometimes go too far? Hear from influential patient voices.

A Prescription for Access

The health equity problems in the U.S. extend to who can get access to medicines. Black and Latino populations have higher prevalence and greater severity of chronic disease, but are less likely to receive novel and guideline-recommended medicines and more likely to face delays in care when they do. How do we fix that and get closer to achieving pharmacoequity.

The Future of Pharma R&D

Year after year, the quest to develop desperately needed new medicines gets more complicated, more expensive, and less predictable. These executives, who lead research at some of the world’s most influential pharmaceutical firms, share how they navigate a fast-changing scientific landscape

COFFEE BREAK

Featuring book signing of “Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine” by Uché Blackstock. Books available for purchase during break.

GLP-1 Drugs: The Pushback Begins

The new GLP-1 drugs for weight loss and diabetes have become, bar none, the hottest thing in medicine. Will insurers and governments find ways to contain their cost? A look at what tools are available and what can be done.

STAT Madness

Featured 2024 STAT Madness participants to be announced.

Closing Remarks

Closing from STAT

Networking Reception

Open to all STAT Breakthrough Summit East attendees!