Some Hope...

[brizzo]

Good Morning...

I have to be very, very careful about what I say here and how I say it... I could lose my job in a flat second.

So, I have worked in Pharmaceutical Sales for 23 years. Specifically Dermatology. I believe I have said this before. For the last 5.5 years, I have worked for a major, international Pharma company. I will not say who (and I hope I have not in the past).

So, I was at a meeting recently and the leadership team was giving us a peek at the "pipeline" of drugs/biologics/treatments that are in development. I pay half attention to the because most of these are outside of my clinical area and I will stick with Derm till I retire in 7 years. Also because so many of these are years out. However, this time I sat straight up in my seat with great attention.

We are currently testing a biologic to treat Sjogren's. The company see's the potential and this particular protein shows great promise. With the advent of "Big Data" many of these "orphan molecules/proteins" that are in existence, that might have failed in their first, intended purposes can now be examined for other potential uses based on an ability to glean through millions of pages of data to match up unintended results to existing disease states. As an example, Thalidomide was developed and prescribed in the middle of the last century as an anxiolytic (a treatment for anxiety). It was pulled FAST when it was shown to cause those heartbreak and profound birth defect. Indeed, this event is what caused the FDA to create tighter rules on drug testing. I bring this up because, decades later, through the use of "Big Data" that molecule was shown to be an effective treatment for Multiple Myeloma. Who would have thought?

That is what I believe happened here. Some of you may know of the above treatment being tested... some may not. If you do, please do not mention the Pharma company developing this. If anyone catches wind of me telling this, I will be fired on the spot.

This looks promising. It is years away but, for a disease state that was a puzzle and a revelation to me, I was surprised and pleased to find that we are working on an effective treatment. I have no details. If I did, I would not be writing about them. I will say this... if it comes out sooner than 7 years, I am going to switch divisions and I am going to sell this, advocate for this and push this till Rhuems and Derms choke on it and start to write this treatment.

I hope that this gives hope.

Be well.

[Jenny]

Great news. Please update when you know more.