Licensing Executives Society Annual Meeting Keynote Speaker Eric Topol Says High Tech Medical and Digital Innovations Are Revolutionizing Health Care

Topol Will Address Over 1,000 IP, Licensing and Business Development Professionals October 15 in Toronto

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The convergence of new high tech medical and digital tools are revolutionizing health care, according to renowned cardiologist and genetic researcher Eric Topol, who is working to secure widespread use of these innovations to design treatments specifically for patient populations based on their unique genetic maps. During an interview promoting his upcoming address at the Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. and Canada) Annual Meeting, October 14-17 in Toronto, Dr. Topol urged the medical community to ‘reboot’ its approach. (www.les2012.org/podcast)

“Connecting & Collaborating: The Convergence of Life Sciences and High Tech”

“It’s a really extraordinary time in medicine that requires us to reboot how we operate as a profession and how we render care. It has a profound rippling effect across the life science industry, academics and the regulatory authority because we have new found capabilities of digitizing each human being to the essence of what makes each person tick,” said Dr. Topol.

In his LES keynote address, “Connecting & Collaborating: The Convergence of Life Sciences and High Tech,” Dr. Topol, who in 2012 was voted the “Most Influential Physician Executive in Health Care” by Modern Healthcare and “Doctor of the Decade” by the Institute for Scientific Information, will share his vision for the future and discuss the complicated implications of change.

“We’re not talking about a little disruption anymore. We’re talking about radical innovation that has across the board impact,” said Dr. Topol, who added that there has been "remarkable resistance" from the medical community toward the new digital infrastructure he feels is necessary to fully embrace this new individualized and more precise approach to preventive medicine.

At the same time, Dr. Topol says that while the top 3 medications—Humira, Enbrel, and Remicade-- bring cumulative annual sales of nearly $30 billion, only 40 percent of patients respond to them. He calls the current ‘blockbuster model’ of pharmaceutical development ‘busted,’ and suggests that by leveraging new technologies and smaller clinical trials, therapeutics could be advanced more quickly at a lower cost and with enhanced efficacy.

“Just as the health care system is in economic crisis, so are the pharmaceutical and biotech industries because their discovery pipelines have run dry and their methods of developing new drugs rely on clinical trials that are immense in size and cost. All of this can be changed if one can demonstrate overwhelming efficacy in a small number of individuals because of some specific information that makes these people likely to respond favorably to a drug, device or diagnostic. That is an extraordinary change.”

Topol’s appearance has ignited widespread interest from IP, licensing and business professionals who are eager to hear how the IP evolution is impacting the life sciences and what it may mean for other industry sectors.

“This is a watershed time for those of us in the pharma and biotech industries,” said Pamela Demain, Executive Director of Corporate Licensing, Merck & Co. Inc. “Eric Topol’s vision for change builds a powerful case for the convergence of medicine with high tech innovations and the resulting benefits to society. I’m really looking forward to his presentation.”

To hear the complete interview with Dr. Topol, as well as other podcasts covering highlights of the upcoming LES Annual Meeting, visit www.les2012.org/podcast. Meeting registration is available at www.les2012.org

About the Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. and Canada), Inc.

Established in 1965, the Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. and Canada), Inc. (LES) is a professional society comprised of nearly 5,000 members engaged in the transfer, use, development and marketing of intellectual property. The LES membership includes a wide range of professionals, including business executives, lawyers, licensing consultants, engineers, academicians, scientists and government officials. Many large corporations, professional firms, and universities comprise the Society's membership.

Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. & Canada), Inc. is a member society of the Licensing Executives Society International, Inc. (LESI), with a worldwide membership of more than 10,000 members in 32 national societies, representing over 90 countries. For more information on LES, see www.lesusacanada.org.