The Elixir Factor

There are currently about 7 million people globally living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a chronic disease that encompasses both ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. The disease can affect how people work, travel and spend time with family and friends, and can make it difficult to talk about with loved ones and healthcare providers.The CONFIDE survey is a global cross-sectional survey of more than 800 healthcare professionals and more than 1,600 adults living with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease in the United States, Europe and Japan. The study was designed to better understand the burden, barriers and care experiences of those living with moderate to severely active ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease and how they communicate with their healthcare providers.Guest host Dr. Cem Kayhan, U.S. and Global Head, Medical Affairs, Gastroenterology at Lilly, is joined by Dr. David Rubin, Section Chief of Gastroenterology at University of Chicago, Lilly’s Dr. Deborah Fisher, U.S. Medical Affairs, Gastroenterology, and Eoin Flynn, Global Scientific Communications Manager at Lilly, who also serves as a patient advisor for the CONFIDE studies, as he lives with ulcerative colitis. The group will discuss how Lilly’s CONFIDE survey sheds light on key gaps in patient-doctor communication that can impact optimal treatment approaches and reinforce the stigma that can be associated with these diseases. 

Our understanding of genetics is critical to understanding the cause of diseases, allowing scientists to target the root cause of diseases to better treat – and even cure – patients. For patients with so-called “untreatable diseases,” such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, the possibility of a finding a cure through genetic medicine offers great hope. This week, guest host Andrew Adams, vice president of genetic medicines and neurodegeneration research at Lilly – overseeing the research and development of novel therapeutic modalities, including oligonucleotide therapeutics, RNA therapeutics and other emerging platforms – is joined by Ruth Gimeno, vice president of diabetes research and clinical investigation, and Michelle Lynn Hall, associate vice president of genetic medicine at Lilly. The group discusses what is dubbed as the “medicine of the future,” focusing on the advancements in genetic medicine, obstacles faced when developing genetic therapeutics and the hope and promise genetic medicine brings to patients who have so-called “untreatable” diseases.

Medical innovations rarely happen in a silo. For the last decade, the biopharmaceutical industry has been working to accelerate the research and discovery process by creating a “new normal” for innovation by fostering collaboration. Embracing start-up culture with shared innovation labs – an accelerator model to offer start-ups and other companies’ direct access to mentorship, lab space and equipment and potential to access opportunities for venture funding – have been becoming more popular in recent years as a way to speed the discovery of medicines through collaboration. This week, guest host Brooke Frost, external engagement leader in business development at Lilly, is joined by Julie Gilmore, Global Head at Gateway Labs by Lilly. Brooke and Julie will share insights of working in a shared innovation space, how this kind of collaboration is fostering scientific breakthroughs and addressing the challenges of start-ups in the industry and how shared innovation labs can accelerate medical innovations in order to bring medicines to patients faster, more safely and more efficiently. 

Atopic dermatitis (AD), or atopic eczema -- the most common chronic inflammatory skin disease -- is characterized by intense itching, dry skin and inflammation on any part of the body.1,2While data on the prevalence of AD in adult skin of color (SOC) populations is limited, in patients 17 and under in the U.S., the prevalence of AD is higher among African Americans, at almost 20%, compared with European Americans (16%) and Hispanic Americans (8%).3There has been limited representation of people with SOC in AD clinical studies. People with SOC may present with unique symptoms, such as skin trauma, irritation or inflammation that causes a change in skin color known as post-inflammatory hyper- and hypopigmentation. In hypopigmentation, affected patches of skin become lighter than a patient’s normal skin tone. Hyperpigmentation causes the opposite reaction, turning patches of skin darker than normal skin tone. Unfortunately, diverse representation in clinical trials has been limited and current clinical measurement scales can vastly underestimate the severity of AD in people with diverse skin tones. This week, Lotus Mallbris, Ph.D., M.D., is joined by Renata Gontijo Lima, M.D., as well as Lillian, an African American woman living with AD. The group discusses the impact of AD – particularly in people with SOC – and the steps Lilly is taking to generate new disease information to aid investigators and clinicians in providing diagnoses and treatment options for all skin tones. Learn more about Lilly’s AD research efforts.References1 Weidinger S, Novak N. Lancet. 2016;387:1109-1122.2 Bieber, T. Nat Rev Drug Discov 21, 21–40 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41573-021-00266-6.3 Fu T, et al. Pediatr Dermatol. 2014 Jan-Feb;31(1):21-6. doi: 10.1111/pde.12237.

As Lilly delivers medicines with speed and purpose, patient safety during clinical trials remains one of Lilly’s top priorities. This week, we welcome back our host Brian Winger, Lilly’s Associate Vice President, Digital Health Research and Development, Xiangnan Dang, Director of Engineering, and guests from Part 1, Tony Fantana and Chuck Benson. Guests on this episode will dive into the uniqueness of this technology; its effects and benefits to clinical trials; and, what’s next for Lilly in the future of clinical trials and monitoring for patient safety.

What is continuomics, and how can it help drive innovation and improve patient experience? Continuomics is the application of technologies to measure an individual’s physiological data in a continuous and unobtrusive manner, and that is exactly what Lilly is striving to do, and what the latest episode of The Elixir Factor will discuss.Ensuring patient safety during clinical trials, alongside optimal patient experience, is imperative to the research and development of new, innovative treatments, as well as the overall patient experience during research. In this episode, we’ll discuss the pharmaceutical industry’s need to measure a very critical side effect in some clinical trials, heart rate, in a patient friendly way that allows for continuous and reliable monitoring of patient safety through clinical trials.  Today, guest host Brian Winger, Lilly’s Associate Vice President, Digital Health Research and Development is joined by Chuck Benson, Senior Medical Director, and Tony Fantana, Lead, Emerging Technology Strategy, Clinical Design, Delivery and Analytics (Sr. Director) who will explore how Lilly is utilizing ‘continuomics’ in attempt to change the pharmaceutical industry’s monitoring of patient safety throughout clinical trials and how one clinical trial led to important insights that could change the future of patient safety and the patient experience during clinical trials. Tune in to Part One of this two-part series to learn more and stay tuned for Part Two of this episode to launch on Thursday, September 29, one week from this episodes launch date.Patient safety is measured, evaluated and followed in all clinical trials conducted at Lilly.  The material presented in these podcasts represent emerging technology that Lilly believes may provide additional capabilities to monitor and evaluate safety and enable a different experience for clinical trial participants.

More than six million people currently live with Alzheimer’s disease and an additional five thousand are undiagnosed. Fighting and advocating for a disease without any treatment requires courage and resilience – as well as kindness and patience in the face of fear. On this episode of The Elixir Factor, Jim and Geri Taylor share their story of fighting this disease with courage and resilience, and finding ways to appreciate life together despite a chronic diagnosis.

The X Factor, a special series of The Elixir Factor podcast, introduces you to the top innovators at Lilly. Tune in as we put the leaders of Lilly under the microscope to explore what drives them to work on new discoveries with the potential to transform how serious illnesses are managed. In this episode, Lynn Deardorff, associate vice president of LRL portfolio strategy and chief of staff sits down with Michelle Lynn Hall, associate vice president of genetic medicine at Lilly. Michelle recounts the journey that brought her from working as a runner at a restaurant to leading a team of Lilly researchers in Boston and New York – all who are committed to the continued advancement of promising and potentially life-altering new medicines. Michelle also talks about her excitement for the future potential of genetic medicines and her love of mac & cheese! All of this and more when you hit play.

Welcome back to the second episode in our two-part series on breast cancer in the Black community. In our last episode, we learned that Black women are 40% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women due to a number of factors.1 In this episode, we’ll sit down with Dr. Stacy Moulder for the medical perspective on this important topic.Before joining Lilly as Associate Vice President and Global Development for certain breast cancer trials at Lilly, Dr. Moulder was a practicing medical oncologist for more than 20 years. In this episode, hear from her on lessons learned during this time, how the medical community can offer better care and education, and why diversity in clinical trials is so important.1. Richardson LC, Henley J, Miller, JW, et al. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Patterns and Trends in Age-Specific Black-White Differences in Breast Cancer Incidence and Mortality – United States, 1999–2014. 2016;65(40):1093-1098.

Did you know Black women are 40% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women? Higher rates of death from breast cancer in Black women are due to a combination of factors, including barriers to early diagnosis, the aggressive nature of certain breast cancers that are more prevalent in Black women, genetics, lack of quality care, discrimination, and systemic racism. In this first segment of two episodes on the topic, guest speakers from Lilly and Pink-4-Ever Ending Disparities will shed light on these issues and share how they are working together to combat these life-changing obstacles so that Black women can access the education, care and support they need while living with breast cancer. Links mentioned in today’s show:Pink4Ever — Ending Health DisparitiesBlack Health Matters References1. Richardson LC, Henley J, Miller, JW, et al. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Patterns and Trends in Age-Specific Black-White Differences in Breast Cancer Incidence and Mortality – United States, 1999–2014. 2016;65(40):1093-1098.