Fred and Vicki Modell, founders of the Jeffrey Modell Foundation and Peter Turner, President of ZLB Behring and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association, recently sat down for a free-wheeling, on-the-record conversation about the state of the industry and the future of biological therapeutics.
Dennis Jackman, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at ZLB Behring, moderated the conversation.
This dialogue, first in a series sponsored by ZLB Behring, makes interesting reading for caregivers, patients and other members of the worldwide Primary Immune Deficiency community alike. |
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The Partnership between the Modell Foundation and ZLB Behring
Dennis Jackman: Welcome Fred and Vicki. Our talks today mark the beginning of an effort we are calling Dialogue with ZLB Behring. We’re hoping to conduct public conversations on key issues and concerns with different leaders in the patient and professional communities we serve. Our company President, Peter Turner, sees this as a top priority and a way that all concerned will benefit from information exchange.
We would like to address a wide range of topics today including product supply, innovation, and changes in diagnosis and treatment for primary immunodeficiency disease (PI). Let’s start with understanding the basic nature of the partnership between ZLB Behring and the Modell Foundation.
What has worked well in the past and how might it evolve in the future?
Fred Modell: Well, first, let me say that this partnership is very active and tremendously productive. The Foundation is involved in four areas: research, physician education, patient support and public awareness. And I would venture to say that in each of those areas, ZLB Behring has vigorously participated with us. With respect to research, together we have established diagnostic centers at UCLA and at the Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia in the U.S. We’ve established a diagnostics Center in Munich, Germany. And each of these initiatives has had extraordinarily impressive results.
With respect to physician education, we've run a wide range of Continuing Medical Education (CME) physician symposia and ZLB Behring has been for years a vigorous supporter of those CME Educational Events. ZLB Behring has been supportive of our K.I.D.’s Days all across the country.
These spirited family days bring patients together from the same community. And finally there are programs that we’ve partnered in terms of public awareness, such as the ten warning signs poster and other efforts. The net effect is that for the past 18 months, our field surveys indicate a 48 percent increase in diagnosed patients, a 46 percent increase in patients on immunoglobulins, a 28 percent increase in referrals and a 26 percent increase in diagnostic tests performed. This has been a powerful, vigorous, and constructive partnership.
Look into your crystal ball please. What might you like to do in the future?
Fred: Frankly, I think we are onto a very effective model. I would love to take this program, expand it in the U.S. and replicate it in other regions of the world like Eastern Europe, Latin American and Asia. I think we’re onto a really demonstrated and supportable hypothesis. Physician education and public awareness will help us reach the undiagnosed. |