From PDURS to D2C, Frontiers Health speaks to cutting edge healthcare news
Premiere healthcare innovation event Frontiers Health is just under a month away. In less than 30 days, health innovators and thought leaders will convene in Berlin for two days of thoughtful engagement about AI, digital health, health equity, investment, and much more.
In our last feature, we wrote about the philosophy behind the event and the foundational pillars it’s based on. But, now that the schedule is nearly complete, we can explore the nuts and bolts of the content on offer next month in Berlin.
AI in healthcare: Beyond the hype
It would be hard to imagine a conference on innovation in 2024 that doesn’t address the rapidly advancing elephant in the room: artificial intelligence. But Frontiers Health’s AI sessions will move beyond the inescapable empty AI hype into concrete examples of AI in action and thoughtful discussion of the technology’s actual potential for the healthcare industry.
In a keynote presentation, Welldoc Chief AI Officer Anand Iyer will discuss the potential of AI, as well as the need for responsible integration, in cardiometabolic condition management, describing his company’s rigorous approach in the process.
You’ll find more insights and real-world applications of AI in numerous other sessions throughout the two day conference, as well. That includes insightful talks in the Science and Biomedical Innovation Thematic Track, entitled ‘From Campus to Bedside and Beyond: Strategies for Tomorrow’s Biomedical Breakthroughs’.
Also included will be contributions from Owkin on how they are combining human expertise and AI to deliver better drugs and diagnostics at scale, and from Verseon on how they are leveraging quantum physics modelling to enhance R&D processes. Additionally, the policy implications of AI will also be covered, during the session entitled ‘The European Health Data Space and the AI Act: Insights and Implications for Health Innovation’, taking place during the Policy Summit, as well as in a Deep Dive called “No good data – no good AI solutions” featuring speakers from both industry and government.
Orion Pharma will also present a session, moderated by Director of Digital Medicine Sammeli Liikkanen, on real-world use cases for using AI to speed up R&D processes and improve ROI. And iRhythm Technologies’ Brent Wright will present a real-world case study on predictive machine learning models to maintain population health in diabetes and COPD.
Additionally, Frontiers Health parent company EVERSANA will be leading a number of sessions looking at AI applications in the commercial space. EVERSANA SVP of Innovation Abid Rahman will lead a session on using AI to drive better outcomes; EVERSANA General Manager for Global Pricing and Access will lead a Masterclass on AI, pricing, and market access; and – last, but certainly not least – EVERSANA Chief Digital Officer Scott Snyder will moderate a panel of top executives from TEVA, Pfizer, and Roche on the topic of ‘Transforming the Pharma Commercial Model with AI’.
These EVERSANA presentations will look at generative AI, the cutting edge of artificial intelligence, as well as traditional big data AI.
Bringing care directly to the patient
One of the biggest market access stories this year has been the launch of Lilly Direct (and, subsequently, PfizerForAll.) Pharma’s entry into direct-to-consumer healthcare via telehealth is a game changer in the whole shape of the healthcare ecosystem.
At Frontiers Health, a number of sessions will explore the increasing drive to bring all aspects of healthcare directly to the patient’s virtual doorstep.
EVERSANA’s Snyder will moderate a panel on the topic with VPs from UCB, Pfizer, and Novo Nordisk discussing key factors for success in the direct-to-patient model.
The conference will also feature a plenary panel on telehealth consumer-first models with CEOs Hamish Grierson, Raghav Gupta, Sokratis Papafloratos, and David Meinertz, of D2C telehealth and home diagnostic testing platforms Thriva, Aktiia, Numan, and ZAVA, respectively, while another panel will focus on hybrid care and remote diagnostics with the CEOs of Lapsi Health, Medbelle, and Eterno. There’s also going to be a breakout session on ‘Revolutionizing Patient and HCP Engagement’.
Direct-to-consumer healthcare, leveraging innovative technology, is here to stay and it’s truly a frontier of health.
Health equity and a world without disease
Frontiers Health wouldn’t be Frontiers Health without a serious and extensive commitment to keeping health equity in the conversation. And this year, it will also play host to the World Without Disease event that was hosted last year in London by pharmaphorum.
This year, World Without Disease will take the form of a Thematic Track called ‘Shaping the Future of Healthcare through Disease Interception’. Moderated by Lore Health Chief Scientific Officer Ben Wiegand, the session will also feature Nadeem Sarwar, Founder and Head of Novo Nordisk’s Transformational Prevention Unit. Sarwar will also give a main stage keynote covering some of the same topics around disease prevention.
On the health equity front, Frontiers Health will feature a bevy of sessions making sure the perspectives of low-income and underserved patients around the world are incorporated into the larger conversation about the future of health. That includes another Thematic Track, moderated by FH regular, author, and futurist Tony Estrella. Attendees of this track will also hear from World Economic Forum Healthcare Policy Lead Diana McGhie, Global Health Security Fund ED Andrew Nerlinger, and Ann Aerts, Head of the Novartis Foundation. Estrella, McGhie, and Aerts will also headline a mainstage panel on health equity.
And Day Two will feature a pair of deep dives into the women’s health space, highlighting that aspect of health equity, but also exploring the potential of women’s health as an investment area.
Digital health and drug-device combinations
As attendees have come to expect, sessions throughout the conference will focus on digital health. But within that category a particular focus will be on the new FDA draft guidance on Prescription Drug Use-Related Software (PDURS).
As we discussed in a recent webinar, the guidance opens the door for a new paradigm in how pharma can use apps to enhance their drug offerings. At Frontiers, attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about PDURS from David Benshoof Klein, CEO and Founder of Click Therapeutics, in a Day One keynote.
Those looking for a deeper dive can attend a Masterclass on ‘The Global Opportunity for Digital-Drug Combinations within Pharma’, hosted by EVERSANA Global Head of Digital Medicine & Regulatory Innovation Marty Culjat (who spoke on our webinar) and Alberta Spreafico, Digital Health Policy Summit Director and SVP Health Innovation at EVERSANA.
Outside of PDURS, Frontiers will feature plenty more digital health content. Daiichi Sankyo’s DSPACE team will lead a workshop on successful digital health collaborations. DiMe’s Megan Coder will moderate a panel on digitally augmented therapies with speakers from Aptar Digital Health, BMS, and Gerresheimer. Another Masterclass will explore digital health from the payer perspective.
And, of course, Frontiers Health’s annual Digital Health Policy Summit is back for another year and will include a delve into the European Health Data Space and AI Act. The Summit will convene voices from DTA, DiMe, Germany’s Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, France’s Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization, and many more regulatory heavy hitters.
Healthcare innovation, start-ups, and funding
Don’t worry – Frontiers Health hasn’t abandoned its focus on nurturing the healthcare start-up ecosystem or its attention to the healthcare funding landscape. The conference will feature its usual Start-up and Scale-up Discovery sessions, highlighting more than a dozen start-ups, as well as the Catapult Regional Selection Pitch Competition. And attendees will also have the opportunity to attend Masterclasses on public funding and preparing for an exit.
There will additionally be a ‘View from the C-Suite’ panel, featuring leaders from SpringWorks, Gilead, and Shorla Oncology.
These, however, are just a few of the most timely and topical subjects the conference is covering in-depth, and there are many more sessions to discover, which you can peruse in the whole agenda on Frontiers Health’s website.
It’s not too late to register for Frontiers Health and be there in Berlin for these exciting and relevant conversations.
