Thought leaders convene to discuss research advances disrupting healthcare, including breakthroughs with blood-based Neurofilament light (NfL) in neurodegenerative diseases

05/12/2018 — LEXINGTON, Mass. & AMSTERDAM — (BUSINESS WIRE)

Powering Precision Health (PPH), the first innovation-driven summit focused on precision health, today announced much-anticipated details for its 2018 summit, which will take place in Amsterdam Dec. 12-13.

Led by life sciences executive Kevin Hrusovsky, PPH is a non-profit organization made possible through the contributions of a wide range of sponsors committed to disrupting healthcare with innovations enabling safer, less invasive and more effective personalized drugs and treatments, as well as ultra-early detection technologies to identify diseases during their earliest, most treatable stages. The summit explores technologies and advances that can be used to identify and manage environmental disease triggers, catalyzing the promise for disease prevention and furthering strategies for slowing disease progression through lifestyle modifications and other techniques. The summit attracts renowned medical leaders, innovators, investors and advocates who are focused on advancing precision health.

“This is our first PPH summit to be held in Europe and will focus primarily on disruptive digital biomarker strategies for oncology and neurodegeneration,” said Kevin Hrusovsky, PPH Founder and Chairman. “The FDA has recently issued guidance on using biomarkers as surrogate endpoints for disease progression and is proactively utilizing fast-track approval processes for innovative diagnostics that transform medicine, particularly if they focus on high-priority diseases such as cancer and neurodegeneration. Blood-based digital biomarkers are unveiling a sea of new opportunities for seeing disease earlier, long before symptoms or when imaging is unable to detect it, opening up a vast opportunity to revolutionize new strategies for drug development, patient drug response monitoring and early detection.”

A new field of “on-therapy diagnostics” is emerging as a technique to rapidly determine if patients respond to drug therapies and treatments and if not, enabling quick intervention to alternative therapies. There is a mounting body of evidence from numerous medical innovators that digital biomarkers can play a disruptive role in most of these emerging approaches. At the summit, top thought leaders in the field of neurodegeneration will review data obtained with a highly sensitive serum Neurofilament light (NfL) assay as an early indicator of neuronal damage, with particularly compelling data on Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients. Early information will also be shared about a major ground-breaking concussion study underway including football players at 21 major U.S. universities. In addition, top oncology thought leaders will explore similar digital biomarker techniques for measuring baseline movements of cytokines in blood, as an early indicator of efficacy or toxicity response.

A special breakout session will be held on the morning of Dec. 13 for NfL specifically, given the emerging importance of this biomarker, which could be relevant as a surrogate endpoint for 15 different MS drugs totaling more than $22B in sales each year, as well as 63 MS drug trials already underway. Quanterix’ ultrasensitive serum NfL assay, currently deployed in many drug trials and undergoing a major global analytical validation study with many pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, will be reviewed during the breakout session.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of multiple sponsors, including Novartis, Quanterix, JP Morgan, Canaccord Genuity, Cowen Group, Leerink, Mintz Levin, and Avison Young, this year’s event is completely free to all participants. However, space is limited so an invitation must be requested here by anyone interested in attending. Learn more about the Powering Precision Health movement and the 2018 summit here.

“If you’re an innovator, investor or part of a patient advocacy group who cares about these diseases, you should be at PPH 2018,” continued Hrusovsky. “In fact, if you or anyone you know has been impacted by cancer, a concussion or neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s or MS, this should be a must-attend event for you!”

Hrusovsky’s opening keynote address will be recorded and available here for listening shortly after the conclusion of the summit.

About Powering Precision Health

Powering Precision Health is the world’s first independent, non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the world’s leading physicians, scientists, innovators, investors and patient advocates together to unveil their latest research on new biomarkers that are revolutionizing precision health. Founded by Kevin Hrusovsky, a widely acclaimed thought leader and visionary in life sciences and personalized medicine, Powering Precision Health is a movement that represents the intersection of new technological capabilities with the latest medical research. It’s rooted in the science of precision medicine, which shows personalized treatments to be an increasingly more effective way to maximize drug efficacy and minimize toxicity. In addition to the impact environmental and lifestyle factors can have on minimizing disease triggers, precision health marks an evolution in the way we approach disease and aims to inspire a full healthcare transformation, from philosophy to approach to outcome. In an industry often plagued by skepticism and marred by false promises, PPH puts science first and brings together stakeholders that span from fundamental research to clinical practice, investors, policy makers, patient advocacy groups, and anyone who embraces the vision of Powering Precision Health. Featuring a distinguished keynote lineup of dignitaries, the summit unveils groundbreaking approaches to prevention, early diagnosis, and next-generation treatments. Powering Precision Health is supported thanks to the generous contributions of sponsors from a wide range of companies and organizations committed to advancing precision health.

Twitter (@PPHSUMMIT): https://twitter.com/PPHSUMMIT

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/powering-precision-health/

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CONTACT:

Lindsay Poole, 617-502-4300
Pan.quanterix@pancomm.com

KEYWORDS: United States,Europe,North America,Netherlands,Massachusetts,

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Health,Infectious Diseases,Oncology,Research,Other Science,Science,General Health,

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