ELPA Educational Training - DAY 4
The fourth and last day of the ELPA Educational Training took place on July 7, 2021. Three presentations from pharma companies were scheduled, and this was probably the most interactive day of the entire training.
The morning started with a representative from Novo Nordisk, Dr. Ichhya Shrestha, MD – Global Medical Manager, giving an overview of the companies’ commitment to NASH. Differently from the usual, all the presentations were accompanied by questions and answers from both parts. This last day session was turned into a kind of dialogue between pharma and patients’ representatives. NASH is a field that really passionate ELPA Members because it represents one of the biggest challenges of the future, and this was also reflected in the exchanges that was mainly based on how to increase the awareness among both patients and medical doctors, the unmet needs in this area, the importance of the name changing into MAFLD and the correlation with other conditions. Dr. Shrestha finished her presentation by giving some details related to the Novo Nordisk NASH pipeline in clinical development.
After a short break, Dr. Laurent Domas, VP Global Interventional Oncology Strategy and Therapy Development at Terumo, took the floor. He presented Interventional Oncology as the 4th pillar of cancer care, and he went through different ‘tools’ in the Interventional Oncology box. Dr. Domas also linked these options and procedures to the different stages of liver cancer. He finished his presentation comparing HCC guidelines over the years and shoving how today, the focus in this field is improving therapies that preserve liver function for longer survival. He also stressed that the future direction is represented by a combination and personalization of all these therapies. ELPA Members asked many questions regarding the therapies presented and, together with Dr. Domas, agreed on the importance of having a multidisciplinary team following the patient’s journey.
The third and last presentation was delivered by two representatives from Ipsen, Ms. Pascale Cavillon, Global Patient Centricity Director, and Dr. John Boyer, Global Medical Director Oncology. The first part was dedicated to Ipse’s commitment to patients and its proactive approach to patient-centricity. As stressed by Mr. Marko Korenjak, ELPA President, this is also proven by the long and fruitful relationship Ipsen has with ELPA. Ms. Cavillon then pointed out that by working with people living with conditions, their families, and caregivers, Ipsen can understand the whole picture to help it deliver real and innovative solutions together and faster, making a meaningful difference. Then the focus moved on working with patients’ organizations in the field of cancer. Dr. Boyer shared a patient experience framework representing the journey of patients with HCC. The presentation ended with an overlook to the global/local past collaboration with ELPA on HCC and a glimpse at future activities.