Read a transcript of a recent conversation between PPTA President and CEO Anita Brikman and Global Board Chair Giles Platford of Takeda. Scroll down to watch the video on YouTube.
In a recent interview, PPTA President and CEO Anita Brikman and Global Board Chair Giles Platford of Takeda shed light on the challenges and opportunities confronting the plasma protein therapeutics industry.
Addressing Challenges and Opportunities
Anita: Giles, thank you for sitting down with me. As my board chair, I get the opportunity to talk to you quite a bit. But many PPTA team members don't have this chance. As the chairman of our Global Board of Executive Directors, what do you see as our biggest challenges and opportunities?
Giles: Well, firstly, Anita thank you for the opportunity. It's always a pleasure to sit and have a conversation with you. I think for our industry, the plasma ecosystem, and the patients who depend on us, some of the biggest challenges relate to ensuring that policymakers and stakeholders across health systems understand the value the plasma-derived therapies have for the many patients who depend on them. These patients often have rather complex chronic diseases, and they don't have oftentimes alternative treatments available to them. So helping stakeholders better understand the value these medicines bring to those patients, to their families, to the health systems in which they sit, and to society at large is really important.
EU Focus and Future Goals
Anita: Giles, you're absolutely right that this is a finite resource. Recently, we've been focused on the situation in Europe and increasing plasma collection there. How has PPTA been effective in the efforts to create a more conducive climate in Europe for plasma collection with the help of our member companies like Takeda?
Giles: Well, I want to take an opportunity to give kudos and credit to you Anita for your leadership, to the broader leadership team of PPTA, but also to your point, to the individual member companies who have played a critical role as well in working together with members of EU Parliament and MEPs from local member state level, the patient community, the medical community, and a broad set of stakeholders across the plasma ecosystem to ensure that we have at EU level legislation that is appropriately encouraging and empowering. All EU Member States do their part in contributing to sustainable supply of plasma globally. And I do think, thanks to the efforts of the industry association and member companies that we have a text today that will come into effect within the next three years that is appropriately incentivizing and encouraging collaboration between the public sector and private sector to ensure we have a sufficient supply of plasma coming out of Europe and we reduce our dependance on the US. 40% of the plasma we need to treat patients in Europe today comes from the US, and this is an unacceptable situation.
Patient-Centricity in Action
Anita: You mentioned the patients. What does it mean to be patient-centric? I've heard you use that phrase quite often and it's something we at PPTA certainly embrace and I know you do at your company. What can we all do to be patient-centric?
Giles: Well, I think it means, you know, everything we do, every decision we take, we first think about what does this mean for the patients? Is this good for the patient? What's the patient going to think about this? And better than sitting here speculating on what the patient might think, let's engage patients in that dialog. We at Takeda and I know other companies as well who are members of PPTA feel very strongly about engaging patients very early in the development of new medicines also. And when we go beyond medicines and thinking about devices and apps and wearables and more holistic solutions to help patients manage the burden of their disease, that we get their input on what's meaningful to them. What are the big issues that they face day to day as they courageously tackle the diseases that they face? It's very important that we get their input and help steer our efforts so that we're addressing legitimate unmet needs. And the patients are helping us in designing solutions to address those unmet needs.
Global Outreach and Equitable Healthcare
Anita: When we talk about unmet needs, there are so many countries in the world where patients simply do not have access as we do in more developed nations. I wanted to ask you about UNITAR, a project that I know Takeda supports, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. What are the benefits of something like UNITAR regarding public-private partnerships?
Giles: Well, I think ensuring sustainable access to innovation into medicines that can truly make a difference in patients' lives goes beyond just affordability. It's about strengthening health systems, improving the capacity of those health systems, both to diagnose in a timely manner patients and ensure that they get onto the appropriate treatment, improving the overall standard of care in those countries. And our collaboration with UNITAR and PPTA, as well as collaborating with this institution that for now is focused on Argentina and Malaysia two pilot countries, let's call them developing health systems where we're working across stakeholders to come with ideas that are tailored to those countries that will help them to better ensure a sustainable supply of plasma and plasma-derived therapies for the patients in those countries. And we've set up a knowledge hub, a resource hub, that is available then to other countries to share learnings and best practices. And we hope that through scaling, the learnings from those early final countries will be able to improve the standard of cat diagnosis and access to treatment with plasma-derived therapies worldwide.
Donor Health an Important Part of the Equation
Anita: We've been talking about patients and unmet patient need. But of course, we can't forget about our plasma donors. Such an important part of this equation. Without their generosity, there would not be these life-saving medicines on the other end of the pipeline.
Giles: You're absolutely right, Anita. And that's why in every one of our collection centers in the US, in Europe, as Takeda and I'm sure the same is the case for our peers or the member companies of PPTA, we ensure that the patient is front and center. We want to remind donors, you know, the gift they're giving and it is a gift that that generosity is positively impacting the lives of patients and their families and somewhere around the world. And, of course, we are also incredibly concerned about the well-being and the health and safety of the donors that we so depend on. And so it's very important that appropriate regulation is in place around the frequency of donations. And irregardless of whether that's levels established in Europe or in the US, I'm incredibly proud of the work the PPTA has done to leverage the tremendous datasets that we have collectively to generate evidence to support that donating plasma is safe and that irregardless of frequency, as long as it's within the mandated levels by the Ministry of Health in different countries to permit plasma collection, that health is not compromised.
Importance of an Active Membership
Anita: Let's talk about membership in an association. What is it that is so important about that? Not just being members, but being engaged members? Because we've certainly seen outcomes as the result of this collaborative effort. But it takes engagement. It takes all of us working together.
Giles: Well, you’re so right Anita, and you mentioned outcomes. I mean, we talked earlier about the Substances of Human Origin legislation in Europe. And I think the impact of the industry association and member companies working together was very evident there in the final legislation and the text that we that we ended up with, and I think in the US, you've got great examples of the special recognition that was given to plasma-derived therapies in the Inflation Reduction Act, also in the establishment of the Plasma Caucus, which I think is the first of its kind, and brings together relevant stakeholders to have dialog and discussion around the importance of plasma-derived therapies, the cost complexity, capital intensity of bringing these medicines through to patients, and what more can be done to ensure that's done sustainably in the US and abroad. So I think there's a lot of value in having a very strong united industry association and very actively engaged member companies who have a shared vision and goal and are working together to ensure that narrative is delivered effectively. And I would argue the measure of success for an industry association is having a seat in the relevant discussions. And I do think that we're making great progress in that regard and getting invited to those relevant discussions and conversations that can have an impact on patients and on the donors we depend on.
Anita: And thank you for your leadership in helping us do so.