Scaling theranostics through access, safety and trust (Sponsored)

0:00You're listening to a sponsored episode of The Top Line.

0:16Welcome, everyone. You're listening to The Top Line, brought to you by Fierce Biotech. I'm your host, Kelly Hogan, and I'm joined by Mike Patterson, CEO of North America at Curium. Welcome, Mike. Thank you so much for being here. Hi, Kelly. Thanks for having me. Today, we are discussing Scaling Theranostics, Why Access, Safety, and Trust are the Next Frontier in Targeted Radiopharmaceutical Treatment. So, Mike, in Theranostics, delivery is time-sensitive and highly coordinated.

0:51From your perspective, what has to be in place across a health system so that a promising treatment can be offered consistently without cancellations, delays, or bottlenecks? Great question, Kelly. There's nothing more important than getting potentially life-saving products to patients for life. We need seamless coordination of ordering systems, manufacturing processes, distribution, and patient services and communication throughout the process. Curium has a unique benefit in that we're a vertically integrated company

1:22with more than 100 years in manufacturing nuclear medicine products. In terms of distribution, we're second to none with getting product from the Midwest and the United States to any state across the country. It's about this ability to adapt and get our product to our patients that drives reliability and confidence. And what does building trust look like in this field? First, among referring physicians who may not work in nuclear medicine every day. And then second, among patients who may be encountering these terms for the first time.

1:57I think trust is about demonstrating that you understand your customer, the patients, and the physicians. So, as you said, you have oncologists that you're working with that are not deep into nuclear medicine. But even within nuclear medicine, you have nuclear medicine physicians, nuclear medicine department leads, you have nuclear medicine technicians, and you have people that are doing billing and coding. So, as you're looking to build trust, understanding what's important to each of those stakeholders is critically important. And then customizing your services for those individuals,

2:30whether it's ordering, making it as simple as possible. Manufacturing, distributing the product has to be super reliable. Our reimbursement services need to support the patients and the clinic adequately. And, of course, patient education and a commitment to ongoing research for these patients is fine. That's how we build trust is by always ensuring that we're listening to our customer and then delivering on the promise to help patients each and every day. And that is so great to hear. As Theranostics expands beyond major academic centers,

3:04what changes would you like to see for training, staffing models, and standardized pathways to help community settings participate over time? You know, we're actually already seeing that expansion occur. So, right now, there are a number of new centers that are starting that are focusing on Theranostics. And we're also seeing the expansion in private practice urology groups, which operate very differently than maybe an academic institution. So, you're seeing groups that have very small staff versus academic institutions that have very large teams.

3:37So, in order to support them, yes, training, we need to help ensure that there's a shortage of nuclear medicine technicians, even in the academic centers. As an industry, we need to do more to drive education and get more people engaged as technologists. If we're going to make this therapy available to patients across the United States and get this into regions that today, patients are traveling hours by car, by plane, to get access to these therapies, We need to do a much better job of bringing people into these areas of education

4:12in order to get more people staffed in the centers. That's first. Second, within the training, infusing nuclear medicine products requires a disciplined approach. It's not that it can't be implemented in a number of centers, but again, there needs to be standard practices, and that's upon us in the pharmaceutical space, but it's also in societies like the Society of Nuclear Medicine, which is doing a fantastic job of driving educational initiatives and standardizing processes across the industry.

4:45So, it's our collaboration together as a group that really enables us to ensure that patients are receiving our therapies in a manner that is, one, effective, but two, safe not only for the patient, but also the staff that's doing the work because they, too, are being exposed to radioactive material at the same time. That's such a good point as well. Looking ahead a few years, what should success look like if we've scaled Theranostics well, not just clinically, but in terms of patient experience,

5:16equity of access, Yeah, great question, Kelly. I think it all starts with greater access for patients. It's about allowing patients to secure therapy in their own region. They're traveling, and that's expensive for them and their family. That burden is emotionally taxing as well. It's enough to be going through cancer therapy, but to have to travel, and your loved ones are traveling with you, it's just such an emotional drive. I think, in addition to that, if you're looking at,

5:46we just need to have some more flexibility in the treatments for the patients. They have good days, and they have bad days. Because this is just a manufacturing, making the product for the patient, we still need to be able to provide some flexibility. There are days when they just don't feel up to getting access to their therapy, and that's something that, if we scale this better, we can do a much better job of helping the patient. And then, finally, we just need to be sure that we're being predictable. This needs to be a seamless process for the patient. They need to be able to show up,

6:18get their therapy, and go home in a very seamless process. But that's something that we're navigating and helping as a manufacturer, but also partnering with the site of care to ensure that we make it a seamless process. I appreciate how much time and effort you've spent in understanding your patient population, and ultimately, that is going to make their experience so much better. So thank you for that. And thank you for joining us today, as well as thank you to our audience for listening in to this episode of The Top Line.

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