Amsterdam, July 8, 2015. This year’s Biotech Update seminar, organized by LSP and EY, was again a well-received and well-attended event. The very pleasant and sunny weather which made the post-seminar drinks in the garden very agreeable, was only one of the factors that made this a such a success. The inspiring speakers and thought-provoking presentations of the day were of course far more important.
Prof. Dr. Yvo Roos opened the afternoon with his presentation “Treatment of acute ischemic stroke - Results of the Mr. Clean study”. He set the stage by introducing the audience to the current standard of care for stroke patients, and then moved on to explain new treatment methods for mechanically rather than pharmacologically removing clots from the brains of stroke patients which would lead to a much better outcome. The Netherlands has taken a leading role in this space, by being the first country to successfully show the efficacy of this therapy in a randomized clinical study. As a result of this, treatment guidelines for ischemic stroke patients are being revised all over the world.
After the break, Prof. Eus van Someren presented his findings on what happens in the brain of an insomniac. Not only did he share results on the identification of different and very distinct sub-forms of insomnia, but he also branched out to more philosophical questions on whether insomnia provides an evolutionary advantage given its wide-spread occurrence. This was followed by lively interactions with the audience, including a discussion on the usefulness and mode of action of current sleeping pills.
As the final keynote speaker, Prof. Dr. Jaap Goudsmit gave his view on what the future of medicine could look like, when it would focus on prevention rather than treatment of symptoms. In his opinion, this could increasingly delay the onset of diseases, with the eventual goal of reaching “immorbidity” - the concept of a life without disease. He believes that the growing ability of individuals to continually monitor vital parameters with electronic devices can play a crucial role in making this thought experiment a reality.
The afternoon was opened by LSP’s Dr. René Kuijten who shared 15 years of LSP successes with the room, and moderated by EY’s Prof. Dr. Jan-Peter Balkenende who also presented the finding of EY’s annual biotech report.
The slide decks of Prof. Yvo Roos and Prof. Eus van Someren can be found here: slide deck of Prof. Yvo Roos and slide deck of Prof. Eus van Someren.