“More than 4,000 diseases are caused by mutated genes. For the vast majority of them, a cure has not yet been found. There is nothing worse than telling the patient’s relatives: “We know what your person is ill with, but, unfortunately, we cannot cure him.” Although we have already achieved a lot, our responsibility remains huge, therefore”: David Goldstein, professor of genetics at Columbia University in the United States and CEO of Actio Biosciences, highlights the complexity. Virologist and investor – founder of RA Capital Management – Peter Kolchinski describes the goal: “No patient was left behind. Spouses, children, brothers and sisters, parents struggle with the disease. We must think of them and take care of them as if they were ours or our relatives.” OUR Nubar Afeyanthe founder of Moderna, says of the challenge, “We have the ability to use uncertainty to create unexpected value.”

When one is among the leading figures in international biotechnology, it is impossible not to ask as many questions as possible. What are the most important recent developments? What do they envision for the future? New effective medicines appear and for what diseases? Will they be easily accessible to patients? Has the field of research changed during the pandemic? And how? “K” was found at “Biotechnologia 2023 – The Biotech Meeting in Greece”., the annual meeting/conference of the industry in Elounda, Crete, received many responses, he also learned about the positive developments of recent months: “Approval of a new, more effective Alzheimer’s drug by Biogen and a new treatment for Playa Amyotrophic sclerosis (ALS), one of the most intractable diseases in recent decades; I hope it will be available in Europe soon. What is certain is that in the coming years we will see more and more innovative therapeutic approaches, including cell and gene therapies, as well as those that use messenger RNA,” he says. Simos Simeonidesbiotech investor, chairman and co-founder of Delsona Therapeutics, which develops new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and brain cancer.

“New innovative therapies that are ‘invented’ also target more specialized or ‘orphan’ diseases, i.e. those that affect a very small number of patients and therefore do not attract much attention from researchers and the pharmaceutical industry,” explains Vangelis VergetisGeneral Director of the newly created Epicast company.

Another aspect illuminated Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas, Emeritus Professor of Cell Biology at Harvard University and Chairman of the National Council on Research, Technology and Innovation. “In the coming years, we will see a lot of great things in the field of biotechnology. The application of artificial intelligence will cause leaps in research that, until recently, no one could have dreamed of – in clinical trials, genetic mapping, gene correlation. Not only will new roads open, it will actually change the way people think. We are waiting for a new Renaissance!

From the stage—and from the wells—of Biotech 2023 – Biotech Meeting Greece in Elounda, Crete, we’ve heard a lot more. For skepticism about vaccines, the “legacy” of the pandemic, which is due to the lack of trust in rulers in many countries, in power in general, and makes public health management difficult. About the bad influence of social networks, where everyone thinks everyone knows. For the climate crisis that brings tropical diseases to our doorstep (to Europe and North America). For leaps in gene therapy and safe genome editing interventions to prevent hereditary diseases and the ethical issues that arise at the same time. On the need to create a global bank of genetic data.

“I have attended countless conferences in my career, and many of them, I will not hide, were incredibly boring. I always had in mind a meeting of colleagues, during which a person will enter, for example, the breakfast room, and it will not matter at which table he sits, because everywhere you can meet wonderful people and hear fascinating stories, ”says Stelios Papadopoulos, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Biogen. In the early 2000s, he and Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas created the non-profit Sade Foundation to evaluate scientists and offer them financial assistance to develop their research work in the field of biomedicine. Unforgivable term? Research must be carried out in Greece. Almost simultaneously, the idea of ​​holding an annual meeting of Greek and Philhellenic representatives of biotechnology, medicine, pharmaceuticals and the investment industry, including in Greece, arose to discuss topical issues. This year’s twenty-first meeting confirmed that Mr. Papadopoulos’ wish had come true.

“No patient should be forgotten. Spouses, children, brothers and sisters, parents are struggling with the disease.”

Everyone was there 😮 Daniel LuvarProfessor of Cell Biology, Honorary Director of the Curie Institute in France, US Ambassador to Greece, George Tsunis· IN Eric Kantorformer Republican leader in the House of Representatives and current vice chairman of international investment bank Moelis; economist Amitabh Chandra, professor of social policy at Harvard University – among others. And, of course, many Greeks who excel in the field of biotechnology: George Skangosthe founder of Vir, who abandoned a successful academic career (as a professor of biology at Johns Hopkins University) to pursue an equally enviable career in the pharmaceutical industry; geneticist Emil Kakkisfrom a Jewish family in Drama, founder of Ultragenyx, a company specializing in the treatment of rare diseases; Samiotis Dimitris Kydonievs R-Pharm, a manufacturer of anti-cancer drugs; h Elena Ritsu VectorY, which sells antibodies against neurodegenerative diseases; h Daphne Karidapresident and chief financial officer of the Flare company, which has thrown itself into the fight against cancer; Vangelis VergetisCEO of Epicast and Xenia Kapori the same company; O Ilias Papatéodoroupresident of Heparegenix (for liver cancer) and Memo Therapeutics; o Alexander Tsukas Gurnet Point Capital and others. The meeting in Elounda also took place in the light of a recent legislative change in the US, which, although it may not have been discussed as much as it should have been discussed in Europe, it cannot be ruled out that it will set off chain reactions in the pharmaceutical industry on both sides of the Atlantic.

“The Inflation Reduction Act, passed by the US Congress in the summer of 2022, changes the situation a lot. On this basis, U.S. drug prices will fall significantly – something that has already begun to happen will have serious consequences for investment options in biotechnology and, accordingly, for innovation. I believe that soon the downward trend in prices will come to Europe,” he says. Stelios Papadopoulos. OUR Daphne Karida agrees: “There is a contradiction, and from now on it will become even more pronounced: on the one hand, valuable innovations are constantly being produced that lead to a deeper understanding of many diseases and to their treatment – which saves lives, that is. On the other hand, the goal of governments is to reduce health care costs, and investors are becoming more selective. How many people will have access to this innovation? Achieving a balance between these two factors is the great question of our time.”

“It’s not all bookkeeping”

In trying to give a more general assessment of the years of the pandemic, most of our interlocutors agreed that it taught us valuable lessons. “He emphasized the importance of cooperation at different levels – between people, countries, companies and the state. It also made us realize that only a very strong public health system can deal effectively with such a severe health crisis and that medicine is not just a profitable product, it is a public good. All of this is an investment in the next pandemics that are sure to come,” says Mr. Ilias Papatéodorou.

However, less optimistic, so she Xenia Kapori: “After the massive COVID-19 adventure that claimed so many lives, I expect health to be a priority everywhere. Unfortunately, it did not happen. We are back to our original state. Governments in the US and Europe are pushing for ever greater cuts in health care costs, and citizens’ access to innovation is severely limited. It’s not all accounting. This is not the way to treat a patient who is fighting for his life.”

The annual meeting of representatives of international biotechnology, which takes place every year in Greece, is “closed”. That is, there is no possibility of access to the media. Except “TO”. We thank the real estate Fula Chapel and Kaiti Papadimitriou who were there to handle all practical matters. Date of the year in the Peloponnese.