▎ WuXi AppTec content team reports
As the "number one killer" who threatens human life and health, the incidence and death of cardiovascular diseases have risen all the way. According to data released by the World Health Organization (WHO), 17.9 million people die from cardiovascular disease every year, equivalent to 1 in every 3 deaths. Data from the World Heart Alliance (WHF) shows that the number of people with cardiovascular diseases worldwide has exceeded 500 million. Although considerable progress has been made in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease over the past half century, it is still one of the major disease burdens of death and disability in the world today.
As one of the most common diseases, the management of cardiovascular disease is fraught with complex challenges. Cardiovascular disease covers a wide range of diseases, including heart failure, coronary heart disease, arrhythmias, hypertension, etc., and many patients have multiple chronic diseases at the same time. Because most cardiovascular diseases are closely related to the "three highs", obesity and lifestyle, they are considered preventable and manageable, but in the global arena, prevention efforts are often forgotten. Treatment adherence is also a major challenge, and long-term medication and lifelong care bring great pain and challenges to patients with cardiovascular disease. What is more serious is that there are a variety of common cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction, which have the characteristics of narrow treatment window and endanger life once the disease occurs, which makes treatment a matter of seconds and more difficult.
Far from this status quo, the development of innovative therapies is struggling. Taking the new drugs approved by the US FDA in recent years as an example, according to the research data published by the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (JMC) in 2021, among the new drugs approved by the FDA from 2010 to 2019, cardiovascular disease treatment products accounted for only 6%, far lower than tumors, infections and central nervous system diseases. The reasons behind this are numerous and complex. Due to the characteristics of the disease itself, the design of clinical trials of cardiovascular disease drugs is difficult, and the development of innovative therapies should be better than existing therapies, but also consider more additional safety. Even the current highly anticipated cell and gene therapies still have limitations — they can only be delivered to the liver, not to the heart, and it is difficult to say that they will succeed. In addition, cardiovascular disease research also lacks good animal models. We are still a long way from addressing the major challenges of cardiovascular disease.
But we believe that science is always bringing new dawn to people. How will diagnostic technologies, innovative therapies and disease management for cardiovascular disease evolve over the next decade? Can new molecular types of drugs revolutionize cardiovascular disease treatment? How will people help the diagnosis and management of cardiovascular diseases through the extensive application of new technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, and genomics? From April 27 to 29, 2022 Beijing time, WuXi AppTec Health Industry Forum 2022 will set up two special discussions on cardiovascular, including a call to action on cardiovascular challenges and reinvigorating cardiovascular research and development.
Facing the challenges of cardiovascular disease, Dr. Mariell Jessup, Chief Scientific and Medical Officer of the American Heart Association (AHA), will talk with Faiez Zannad, Professor Emeritus of the Faculty of Therapeutics and Cardiology of the University of Lorraine and the French National Institute of Health and Medicine, and President of the Global Forum of Experts and Scholars on Cardiovascular Clinical Experts and Scholars (CVCT).
Reinvigorating cardiovascular disease research and development, a number of biotechnology companies dedicated to the development of innovative therapies for cardiovascular disease, and investment institutions dedicated to improving the health of cardiovascular disease and stroke will jointly explore future solutions, including how to achieve precision treatment like tumors, how to find targeted genes, how to better develop biomarkers, how to better design animal models, how to develop better drug delivery methods, and how to better conduct clinical trials.
Dr. Mariell Jessup
Chief Scientific and Medical Officer, American Heart Association (AHA).
Dr. Mariell Jessup is a leading scholar in the field of cardiovascular disease research, prevention, and treatment, and is currently the Chief Scientific and Medical Officer of AHA, and has been a member of the American College of Cardiology Annual Meeting (ACC)/AHA Heart Failure Guidelines Committee since 2001. Dr. Jessup, who promoted heart failure and transplant cardiology through secondary subspecialty accreditation, joined the subspecialty committee and chaired it for two years. Dr. Jessup is also a Fellow of the European Heart Society and an Honorary Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Dr. Faiez Zannad
Honorary Professor of the Faculty of Therapeutics and Cardiology of the University of Lorraine and the French National Institute of Health and Medicine; Chair of the Global Forum of Experts and Scholars on Cardiovascular Clinical Experts (CVCT).
Dr. Faiez Zannad has made significant contributions to the research and care of heart failure, including establishing evidence to support modern heart failure treatment and successfully implementing France's largest heart failure disease management program (ICALOR). Previously, he received the European Society of Cardiology-Heart Failure Association (ESC-HFA) Lifetime Achievement Award and the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) Paul Milliez Award. Currently, Dr. Zannad is Professor Emeritus of the Faculty of Therapeutics and Cardiology at the University of Lorraine and the French National Institute of Health and Medicine, as well as Chair of the Global Forum of Experts and Scholars on Cardiovascular Clinical Experts (CVCT).
Dr. Sekar Kathiresan
CEO of Verve Therapeutics
Dr. Sekar Kathiresan is the co-founder and CEO of Verve Therapeutics and a cardiologist and scientist. His career has focused on understanding the genetic basis of heart attacks and using these insights to improve cardiovascular disease care. Verve's goal is to develop gene-editing drugs that can transform the treatment of cardiovascular disease from chronic care to one-time treatment. Last year, the company completed a $94 million Series B funding round and landed on the NASDAQ market, and in the same year, its gene therapy also obtained important research data in non-human primate experiments, which can reduce bad cholesterol levels by as much as 61% in a single treatment.
Dr. Michael Mendelsohn
Founder and Chairman of Cardurion Pharmaceuticals
Dr. Michael Mendelsohn is the founder and chairman of Cardurion Pharmaceuticals and an internationally renowned physician-scientist with extensive experience in academia and industry. He founded Cardurion in 2016, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing novel therapies for heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases. The company received up to $300 million in investment last year and is currently working on a potential "first-in-class" innovative PDE9 inhibitor, as well as a new caMKII inhibitor.
Dr. Claudia Ulbrich
CEO and co-founder of Cardior Pharmaceuticals
Dr. Claudia Ulbrich is CEO and co-founder of Cardior Pharmaceuticals and has over 25 years of management expertise in the biotechnology sector. Cardior focuses on the discovery and development of RNA-based therapeutic products designed to prevent, repair and reverse cardiovascular disease. Last year, the company completed about $76 million in Series B funding, which will be used to develop its leading R&D projects. Cardior's research therapy CDR132L is an oligonucleotide molecule that targets micro-RNA-132, reduces its abnormal levels, reverses cytopathology, and reshapes the normal function of the myocardium.
Dr. Christopher de Souza
Investment Director, Broadview Ventures
Christopher de Souza holds an MBA from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University and has more than 30 years of experience in biopharmaceutical R&D, business development and strategy. Currently, he is responsible for the operations of Broadview Ventures, including sourcing and screening investment opportunities. Broadview is a mission-oriented investment institution with the primary investment objective of improving human health in the field of cardiovascular disease and stroke.
Dr. Simone Fishburn
Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of BioCentury
Dr. Simone Fishburn is the current Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of BioCentury, a news outlet focused on biomedical innovation. Previously, she served as Director of Translational Research at Nektar Therapeutics and Senior Management Consultant at Exponent, specializing in projects in the biopharmaceutical industry to drive laboratory discovery. Since joining BioCentury in 2013, Dr. Simone has brought experience in the translational science industry and academia, writing and editing a variety of innovative projects. In addition, she has served as a translational consultant for several well-known universities, including the University of California, Stanford University, and many other well-known universities.