Last week’s Research Innovation Summit, which is part of ATS 2022, was a great opportunity to network and learn perspectives from industry experts. I was excited to be there! I looked forward to talking with other companies who are developing lung therapeutics and investors who are interested in this field. I was invigorated by the interactions and encouraged by the insights shared at the conference.
First off, it was reassuring to hear that big pharmaceutical companies continue to invest in product development with a long view, despite the current stock market slump. They recognize that drug development usually has a longer lifecycle than stock market fluctuations. On the other hand, investment in lung disease lags behind other diseases, such as cancer. Why is this when lung disease is the fourth largest cause of death in the US? Perhaps because it is perceived that there is limited innovation in this therapeutic area. But the energy level at this meeting was high, largely because COVID has “put a major spotlight” on respiratory health, and because companies are applying many new technologies to develop innovative therapeutics. These were on display, and BioSuperior Technology certainly belongs in that group.
Investors and big pharma look for companies that have technologies like BioSuperior. They want drug candidates that can be repurposed to treat multiple diseases. One big pharma presenter referred to this as “pipeline in a product”. Our gene therapy certainly has that potential. In addition, our drug delivery platform optimizes the utility of anti-inflammatory, anticancer, anti-infective therapeutics in the lung. Investors also shared that they look for teams who have both strong industry experience and demonstrated collaboration skills. Our team of deeply experienced pharmaceutical scientists have helped discover and develop therapeutics that have reached $1B+ in annual sales. We recognize the value of good communication and transparency, so that we can quickly identify and solve problems as they invariably come up.
One investor questioned the opportunity for a strong return on investment for therapeutics that treat Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) / Acute Lung Injury (ALI). Why? Because he believes this illness is episodic and treatment is constrained by budget. I disagree. Each year in the United States, 200,000 adults develop this illness, and it is costing the healthcare system more than $20B. COVID has caused the cost to rise exponentially, in addition to patients suffering from ARDS due to smoke, smog and other environmental factors. Who wouldn’t want to reduce the cost of care? I deeply appreciated hearing his perspective and we had a long conversation later in the meeting. We agreed that with sound science, and the ability to meet meaningful clinical endpoints, acceptance would be high.
I left this meeting feeling energized and confident that BioSuperior Technology has a strong science, team and business opportunity.
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