Through the World Disease-Free Accelerator (WWDA), a team under Janssen Research & Development, LLC (one of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen pharmaceutical companies), Dr. Murray McKinnon and his team are embracing an ambitious paradigm focused on disease prevention, Interception and treatment.
McKinnon, the global head of WWDA, is advocating this task to understand the genetic causes and triggers of the disease. McKinnon has more than 35 years of pedigree in drug discovery and development and is working hard with his team to understand the way this new approach may change our view of the future of healthcare.
In an interview, McKinnon discussed his goals for WWDA, which reflected the integration of in-depth understanding of diseases and the focus on the future of connected digital health.
The basis of the disease
WWDA currently focuses on three disease areas with high unmet medical needs and the potential to intercept solutions: lung cancer, type 1 diabetes (T1D) and childhood allergic diseases. The fact that each of these diseases is supported by interconnected immune mechanisms means that the group is composed of cross-functional expertise in data science, biomarkers, immunoscience, microbiome, sensors and wearables, and behavioral sciences. composition.
Murray McKinnon
“What we are trying to do is to understand the disease in depth so that we can find potential new targets and mechanisms that support the root cause of the disease,” McKinnon said. “It’s about understanding how to choose intervention targets and molecules…and then using our scale and science in pharmaceuticals, medical equipment or consumer health, as well as external innovation ecosystems.”
global vision
One of the important aspects about WWDA and how McKinnon intercepts diseases is the unexpected connections across disease fields and how WWDA is committed to solving important health problems in different countries. In our conversation, McKinnon talked about several examples of putting disease interception methods into action.
Lung cancer cells, color scanning electron micrograph (SEM). Magnification: x12, 000 to print with a width of 10 cm.
An example of the work of McKinnon and his team is the use of behavioral neurobiological research to help people quit smoking and potentially prevent lung cancer through the development of a smartphone app. An active clinical study is currently underway in China. There are more than 300 million smokers in China, and more than half of adult men in the country smoke. In addition, 40% of global tobacco consumption comes from China. Despite unmet needs, there are only a few digital solutions in the Chinese market that can help people understand the risks of smoking and help them quit smoking.
Nearly 4,000 miles to the northwest, Finland is experiencing another health crisis.
The country has one of the highest incidences of T1D in the world. According to McKinnon, the Finnish government wants to know why. WWDA is working with Finnish universities, hospitals, biobanks, and other global pharmaceutical companies to explore the genetic triggers that lead to the development of T1D and ways to delay or even stop the disease Finnish genes – A large public-private partnership aimed at collecting and analyzing genome and health data from 500,000 Finnish biobank participants.
Although T1D is widely known in Finland, the incidence of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) (a life-threatening disease at the time of diagnosis) is quite high. Using FinnGen’s insights, WWDA set out to help parents identify when their children are at risk of developing DKA or developing diabetes. Through the FinnGen research, WWDA and other collaborators hope to gain insights into new medical and therapeutic disease interventions that are not only applicable to T1D, but also to other diseases. “Broader applicability is the key,” McKinnon pointed out.
In the United States, WWDA strategically uses technology and key partners to advance its mission.
E.g, Heart Line™ The research in collaboration with Apple aims to detect and inform users 65 years and older of signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib), a common arrhythmia and the main cause of stroke in the United States. Go to the smartphone to detect the abnormal heartbeat, and then guide the participant to the doctor to diagnose and treat AFib earlier in order to prevent potential pulmonary embolism or stroke.
“For most people,” McKinnon observes, “we know that when AFib occurs, this effect increases the risk of thromboembolism-such as pulmonary embolism-which can be fatal. Think about it. If you don’t know If you have AFib, you will not receive anticoagulants on this basis, and you may form blood clots, which in turn may be fatal. By using digital devices and wearable devices to help patients understand and directly participate in their Heart health, we want to encourage them to have potentially life-saving conversations with doctors and intercept them before potentially fatal consequences occur.”
Infant status
Through cooperation with Evolve Biosystems, Monash University and other institutions, McKinnon and his team are also working to unravel the complexities of childhood allergic diseases, such as atopic dermatitis (AD) and celiac disease. WWDA’s so-called “Healthy Baby Initiative” leads this effort.
As much as 50% of children in the U.S. have AD Experience Atopic MarchAs the child grows up, the allergic condition cascades and progresses. Some recent studies support the causal relationship between AD and other diseases such as food allergy, celiac disease, allergic rhinitis, and allergic asthma.
This concept is getting more and more attention in the scientific community.A recent manuscript Journal of Clinical and Cellular Immunology The internal operation of AD and the potential for disease interception are emphasized. The study suggests that targeting the skin barrier earlier, where allergic sensitization occurs, may prevent subsequent atopic diseases. As we all know, a dysfunctional skin barrier is a place for antigen allergy and bacterial colonization. The manuscript goes on to describe an optimal time window to do this.
One of the areas that the Healthy Baby Initiative focuses on is how the baby’s gut microbiome changes based on various factors, including whether the baby was delivered by a normal or cesarean section, whether the baby was breast-feeding or formula, and whether the baby has received antibiotics, all of which are known to change Microbiome. These factors affect the baby’s immune system and affect their tendency to develop allergies. WWDA is working to understand whether targeted therapy solutions that affect the balance of the microbiome have the potential to intercept or prevent allergic diseases in children.
WWDA’s work spans regions and diseases and defines “interdisciplinary”, applying insights from different diseases to explore potential intersections of treatment and interception. For example, T1D and celiac disease have a genotypic risk, which means that when screening for T1D, cases of celiac disease are usually found.
“We are working hard to develop a new disease treatment paradigm, to develop the best science through global cooperation, and to use all the information we have-biomarker data, sensors and wearable devices-through in-depth understanding of diseases- To prevent disease progression,” McKinnon said. “WWDA’s work provides a new approach to the intersection of drug development and digital health, working across national borders and borders to ensure that the treatment paradigm reflects the deep connection of human health.”
Photo: Niels Wenstedt/BSR Agency, Getty Images
