IntelliPanel Medical Blog
Blog entry #2: Our addressable
market may be larger than anticipated
The last few months have been exciting and fruitful for the IntelliPanel team. We have been interacting with key GBM physicians and researchers to validate the need for a serum based GBM diagnostic test. One consistent message has been that we should think bigger – while a diagnostic test may have a place in the initial workup for GBM, there is also a critical unmet need in follow-up where ‘pseudoprogression’ can make GBM management quite difficult from a medical decision making standpoint. We anticipate that the technology we are looking to commercialize will be able to solve this difficulty.
GBM progression is monitored mainly via brain imaging (and, of course, neurologic physical exams). Initial therapy may involve tumor resection, followed by radiation and temozolomide (chemotherapy). In broad terms, these therapies lead to brain changes that make MRI images more difficult to evaluate for progression. For example, resection may lead to post-operative swelling, and radiation therapy can independently lead to necrotic lesions. Overall, 30-40% of patients suspected of progressive disease may actually have pseudoprogression. This sort of uncertainty in follow-up often leads to over-treatment with additional radiation and/or chemotherapy. A quantitative serum test, similar to the one we are looking to commercialize, can solve this issue by providing an objective measure of tumor progression.
We are glad to have these conversations early on, and invigorated by the notion that the test we are hoping to bring to market can benefit patients in additional dimensions than originally anticipated.
For a more detailed review of GBM pseudoprogression, please refer to brief topic review at the following links:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4139817/
http://www.braintumour.ca/1649/ask-the-expert-psuedo-progression-gbm
- Keyvan Mirsaeedi-Farahani, IntelliPanel Medical Team Lead
GBM progression is monitored mainly via brain imaging (and, of course, neurologic physical exams). Initial therapy may involve tumor resection, followed by radiation and temozolomide (chemotherapy). In broad terms, these therapies lead to brain changes that make MRI images more difficult to evaluate for progression. For example, resection may lead to post-operative swelling, and radiation therapy can independently lead to necrotic lesions. Overall, 30-40% of patients suspected of progressive disease may actually have pseudoprogression. This sort of uncertainty in follow-up often leads to over-treatment with additional radiation and/or chemotherapy. A quantitative serum test, similar to the one we are looking to commercialize, can solve this issue by providing an objective measure of tumor progression.
We are glad to have these conversations early on, and invigorated by the notion that the test we are hoping to bring to market can benefit patients in additional dimensions than originally anticipated.
For a more detailed review of GBM pseudoprogression, please refer to brief topic review at the following links:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4139817/
http://www.braintumour.ca/1649/ask-the-expert-psuedo-progression-gbm
- Keyvan Mirsaeedi-Farahani, IntelliPanel Medical Team Lead
Blog entry #1: Introductions
I am pleased to introduce the 4-person strong core team at IntelliPanel Medical. We are excited to be working together to further develop and commercialize promising technology that can aid in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) diagnosis and monitoring. We met at UPenn, and are based out of Philadelphia, PA:
We have also relied on two key advisors to help as advance to where we are today. Dr Steven Nichtberger is successful serial healthcare entrepreneur. Dr Brian Litt has successfully spanned the clinical, research, and entrepreneurial side of medicine – he has contributed to several start-ups while practicing medicine clinically and also running his own laboratory and the Center of Neuroengineering and Therapeutics at UPenn.
- Keyvan Mirsaeedi-Farahani, IntelliPanel Medical Team Lead
- Keyvan Mirsaeedi-Farahani: Keyvan is currently pursuing an MD/MBA between the Perelman School of Medicine at UPenn and Harvard Business School. Before returning to graduate school, he spent 2 years as a management consulting with McKinsey & Company. He has also worked in healthcare investing, assessing very early private and public biotechnology and medical devices companies at Perceptive Advisors. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Cellular and Molecular Biology as well as a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 2009. He has published neurology/ neurosurgery research in peer-reviewed journals.
- Joshua Warren: Josh is currently a 5th year UPenn MD/MBA at the Perelman School of Medicine and the Wharton School. During medical school, he worked part-time for 2 years in UPenn’s technology transfer office, predominantly working on biomedical technologies. He has also worked with the Boston Consulting Group’s healthcare practice. Before medical school, he attended the University of Pennsylvania as an undergraduate, where he graduated with honors in both Neurobiology and Economics.
- Richard McCloskey, PhD: Dr McCloskey is currently a post-doctoral researcher at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). He completed his PhD in Biochemistry, Molecular, and Cellular Biology at Cornell University in 2012. In addition to his research interests pertaining to oncology, he is also particularly interested in translational research – how to effectively bring medical advances from the ‘bench to the bedside.’
- Mateusz Koptyra, PhD: Dr Koptyra is currently a post-doctoral researcher in the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Department at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). He obtained his PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of Warsaw in 2008, Dr Koptyra has spent his post-doctoral years on cancer research with a focus on tumor diagnostics and personalized medicine, with special interest in tumor biomarkers circulating in blood. He has published multiple research papers on these topics.
We have also relied on two key advisors to help as advance to where we are today. Dr Steven Nichtberger is successful serial healthcare entrepreneur. Dr Brian Litt has successfully spanned the clinical, research, and entrepreneurial side of medicine – he has contributed to several start-ups while practicing medicine clinically and also running his own laboratory and the Center of Neuroengineering and Therapeutics at UPenn.
- Keyvan Mirsaeedi-Farahani, IntelliPanel Medical Team Lead