WEBVTT - Ennaid's Harrison on Developing Cure for the Zika Virus (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>gains for the man U S savages today, with the

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<v Speaker 1>a biotechs outperform gained one percent and the utilities fall

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<v Speaker 1>one point three percent down. Leaders to the upside included DuPont, Bollman, Saxe,

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<v Speaker 1>and Caterpillar, while Walmart, United Health m McDonald's led to

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<v Speaker 1>the downside. Micrond gained as much as five percent to

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<v Speaker 1>Breaking News desk gone Bill Maloney, Katherine, thank you bellen

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg business flash. Now on Bloomberg Radio, we take stock

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<v Speaker 1>of healthcare. The giessue of drug pricing has been at

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<v Speaker 1>the forefront, certainly in the political realm for the last

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<v Speaker 1>few months. We're living in a very special time in

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<v Speaker 1>the history of the pharmaceutical industry. Only three percent of

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<v Speaker 1>all biotechs that start actually get a drug approved. It's

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<v Speaker 1>a very hard thing to do. Bloomberg taking stock Healthcaren

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<v Speaker 1>focus on Bloomberg Radio. The Zica virus has been one

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<v Speaker 1>of the dark clouds hanging over the Olympics in Rio

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<v Speaker 1>de jan Narrow. In fact, the virus emerged there back

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<v Speaker 1>in probably introduced in the country, uh in the latter

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<v Speaker 1>half of according to our Bloomberg intelligence team, and of

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<v Speaker 1>course now there are concerns that it will spread further

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<v Speaker 1>across North America and continue to show up in Europe.

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<v Speaker 1>Enter Darnish Darnisia Grant Harrison. She's president and CEO of

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<v Speaker 1>an aid therapeutic She's based in Alfaretta, Georgia, joining us

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<v Speaker 1>in our studio today. Uh. She is the CEO of

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<v Speaker 1>a global pharmaceutical company that is developing anti viral drugs

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<v Speaker 1>to treat this Zeka virus. Not a moment too soon, Darnisia,

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me. So, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>what are you developing in particular? So we are actually

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<v Speaker 1>developing anti viral treatments. So these are actually drugs. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>We love to use one analogy. If your households on fire,

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<v Speaker 1>what do you want the fire department to come or

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<v Speaker 1>a fire inspector to come? I bet you'd want to

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<v Speaker 1>fire the fire department. So we are like the fire department.

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<v Speaker 1>When you get zekea virus, we would then put it out.

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<v Speaker 1>M vaccines, on the other hand, are much like fire inspectors. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>It sort of prevents you, um from getting Zeka virus.

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<v Speaker 1>What we have come to realize in the infectious diseases

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<v Speaker 1>world is that therapeutics, so drugs such as that we're

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<v Speaker 1>developing and vaccines really play a complimentary role in helping

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<v Speaker 1>to control and ultimately eradicate diseases such as zeca. Now

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<v Speaker 1>I need some help with a little science because I

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<v Speaker 1>need to know in order to understand more what is

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<v Speaker 1>a peptide inhibitor and connect the zekra virus to what

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<v Speaker 1>we know about dan gay fever, because I understand that

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<v Speaker 1>there is a connection. Yes, there is. So I'll start

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<v Speaker 1>with the ladder um. Both Ezeka and dengie, as well

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<v Speaker 1>as less nile virus and many others, are from the

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<v Speaker 1>same family of viruses called the flavor Veridae family. Even

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<v Speaker 1>furthermore closely related there from the same genus of this family,

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<v Speaker 1>the flavor virus genus, And each of these viruses that

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<v Speaker 1>you've just mentioned had the same mechanism of action of

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<v Speaker 1>infecting healthy cells within the body. Okay, So that answers

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<v Speaker 1>that question. Now the first question, what's a peptide and

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<v Speaker 1>what does it mean? Um? It's essentially a protein. Okay. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>We're all very very familiar with um insulin. Okay. Insulin

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<v Speaker 1>is a protein very similar okay to to put it

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<v Speaker 1>simply um and the peptide inhibitors are drugs that stop

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<v Speaker 1>the peptide in our case, from buying ding to the

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<v Speaker 1>healthy hostel. If it can't bind, then it theoretically should

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<v Speaker 1>not be able to infect healthy cell. So that's what

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<v Speaker 1>we are developing in particular, peptide binding inhibitors. Journey. So

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<v Speaker 1>you're normally a woman heading up a very exciting pharmaceutical company.

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<v Speaker 1>You're also the first African American woman in the world

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<v Speaker 1>to be founder, president, CEO of a pharmaceutical company. Microbiologist, scientist,

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<v Speaker 1>business development in a nutshell, how did you get here?

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you for asking, um, And I will qualify that

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<v Speaker 1>I'm one of the first African American I have to

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<v Speaker 1>be politically correct here, but UM, you know, I majored

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<v Speaker 1>UM and became a microbiologist and a chemist and really

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<v Speaker 1>enjoyed being a scientist. But I didn't want an advanced degree.

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<v Speaker 1>I had a Bachelor of Science in both and so

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<v Speaker 1>I was working in pharma at am Gen at the

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<v Speaker 1>time many moons ago, and I said, you know, what

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<v Speaker 1>would I want to do with my career that could

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<v Speaker 1>really marry both my scientific acumen, but then I could

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<v Speaker 1>learn the business side, and that's what I segued into

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<v Speaker 1>business development and licensing, but in the niche area of

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<v Speaker 1>pharmaceutical research and development, and I stayed there for about

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<v Speaker 1>fifteen years, but five years in I just had this

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<v Speaker 1>really deep passionate desire to have my own pharmaceutical company

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<v Speaker 1>and focus on early stage, promising science. It's a known

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<v Speaker 1>fact that there is about a twenty year backlog of

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<v Speaker 1>good scientific discoveries that could be used in human health

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<v Speaker 1>and animal health, but most companies don't focus there, and

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<v Speaker 1>that's where we differ. And eight Therapeutics is privately held.

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<v Speaker 1>Tell us a little quickly about funding and also the pipeline.

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<v Speaker 1>Where are you in the testing of this work? Absolutely

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<v Speaker 1>so funding. We are essentially what we would call a

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<v Speaker 1>self funded company and that I am our largest investor.

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<v Speaker 1>And we've done a very successful family and friends round

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<v Speaker 1>of funding UM having utilized with our rays right at

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<v Speaker 1>about one million dollars okay, and we've got some other

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<v Speaker 1>very aggressive activities going with funding now UM and we

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<v Speaker 1>are in the pre clinical stages finishing up the animals

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<v Speaker 1>studies and on track to be in first time in

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<v Speaker 1>man human trials by Q one. Thank you very much

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<v Speaker 1>for coming in and sharing all this information with us.

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<v Speaker 1>Darnisia Grant Harrison, the president and the chief executive of

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<v Speaker 1>an Aid Therapeutics. They're based in Alpharetta, Georgia. This is Bloomberg.

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