Science & Innovation
Fear and anxiety swirled when Dr. Cynthia J. Musante’s husband contracted COVID-19. He faced a greater risk of coming down with a severe case since he was already unwell.But all their worries vanished in just 24 hours.Dr. Musante recalls that her husband soon started to feel better after being prescribed an investigational oral treatment for those with COVID-19. “It felt like a miracle,” he said. “I had felt so horrible.”As relief settled in, Dr. Musante felt something else: pride.After all...
Living & Wellbeing
In most types of clinical research, a large number of patients participate in studies that explore an experimental treatment or approach. This decades-old process is how some of the most impactful, and even lifesaving therapies have come to be, from cancer drugs to COVID-19 vaccines.1 But what happens when scientists need to study a rare disease, one that doesn’t affect a high percentage of people? And what if those who are affected don’t participate because of social disparities...
Science & Innovation
It seems strange to think that a harmless virus could be the key to treating an illness. But an innovative and transformative medicine called gene therapy uses non-disease-causing viruses to deliver a healthy copy of a gene that aims to treat the underlying cause of a disease. These viruses are used as vectors or vehicles that deliver genetic materials to specific cells.1 “As this flourishing field expands, scientists are engineering viral vectors that are more precisely able to deliver...
Purpose & Ideals
When it comes to healthcare, the terms “equitable” and "access" often go hand-in-hand. In order to prevent, treat, and identify diseases that disproportionately impact underserved and minority populations, Pfizer believes that research must be directed to the root causes of healthcare disparities. The recently-launched Institute of Translational Equitable Medicine (ITEM) is intended to do just that: work toward a more equitable future of health care. For Aida Habtezion, M.D., who is Pfizer’s...
Purpose & Ideals
A rare disease is, by its very nature, rare. The CDC defines a rare disease as a condition that affects fewer than 200,000 people in the United States, or no more than one out of every 2,000 people in Europe.1 And yet, rare diseases—which frequently have a genetic component—affect many: there may be as many 7,000 different types of rare diseases, impacting 25 to 30 million people in the United States, according to the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.2 Often, rare diseases...
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