S
Safi Bahcall
CEO, Synta Pharmaceuticals
FORMER PROFESSION: Astrophysicist (like both his parents)
GOAL: For Synta to be the next Celgene or Genentech
Until 2003, everything was abstract. Papers, ideas, concepts, and theories. And then I went to Boston to meet the first patient who was getting dosed with our first drug for the first time. The patient was a young guy, with an IV bag going into his arm, who had cancer. It was our drug in that bag, and he was looking at me, hoping that our drug would make him not die. The doctor and nurse just left, so I sat down in the chair next to his bed, and we started talking—about travelling, restaurants, biking. And all the stuff that I've done—the stock options, business plans, whatever—they all just melted way. Everything in the past just faded. And I realized that everything that counted, it was there. It's those moments that reframe everything and let you realize how important it is to do what we are doing."
Safi Bahcall
Key Findings of the NIAGARA and HIMALAYA Trials
November 8th 2024In this episode of the Pharmaceutical Executive podcast, Shubh Goel, head of immuno-oncology, gastrointestinal tumors, US oncology business unit, AstraZeneca, discusses the findings of the NIAGARA trial in bladder cancer and the significance of the five-year overall survival data from the HIMALAYA trial, particularly the long-term efficacy of the STRIDE regimen for unresectable liver cancer.
Fake Weight Loss Drugs: Growing Threat to Consumer Health
October 25th 2024In this episode of the Pharmaceutical Executive podcast, UpScriptHealth's Peter Ax, Founder and CEO, and George Jones, Chief Operations Officer, discuss the issue of counterfeit weight loss drugs, the potential health risks associated with them, increasing access to legitimate weight loss medications and more.