OR – Juliette Vandenbroucque: this mp4 video file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Saul Marquez:
Hey everybody! Saul Marquez with the Outcomes Rocket. I really want to welcome you all today to the podcast. Today, I am joined by the outstanding Juliette Vandenbroucque. She is a Senior Director of Business Development at Taimei Technology, a leading digital innovator in clinical research. She has extensive international experience in the life sciences industry, spanning PR, scientific communications, global medical affairs, clinical research, and many more things. Juliette has worked in leading pharma companies and biotech startups across three IPOs, 15 product launches, two new manufacturing site inaugurations. You get the point. She knows the business, and she knows it well. And Juliette, with that introduction, I want to welcome you to the podcast. I’m so glad you could join today.
Juliette Vandenbroucque:
Thank you so much for the invite, Saul. It’s a pleasure to be here.
Saul Marquez:
Absolutely. And so, Juliette, tell me what inspires your work in the business of healthcare.
Juliette Vandenbroucque:
Yeah. So, of course, health is a fundamental aspect in all of our lives. It’s, you know, necessary in everything we do. And there are still many, many untreated, debilitating, and life-threatening diseases impacting a lot of people in addition to a lot of health inequality. So that’s of course, you know, one point health is necessary. In addition to this, I think what, you know, really drives me in working in that field is biology itself. Biology is fascinating, it’s a very complex field. While we’ve made tremendous progress over the past 50 years, we’re still scratching the surface, and there are so many aspects that need to be understood and uncovered. And in addition to this, I think what makes, you know, our job and our world very, you know, interesting is, it’s, the fact that it’s so interdisciplinary when it comes to research, of course, but also, you know, any new pathway to approve new technologies or new drugs and so on and so forth. It’s a very, very complex field. So it’s great, you know, to be able to play a small part in helping tackling those unsolved issues or diseases, which will hopefully have a tremendous impact on humanity.
Saul Marquez:
Yeah. I really appreciate that, Juliette. There’s that access problem and the nonstop challenges that we get to really tackle in this field. So can’t agree with you more there. That’s part of what I love about being in healthcare. And as you think about sort of the work that Taimei does, how do you think you guys are adding value to the healthcare ecosystem?
Juliette Vandenbroucque:
Yeah. So first of all, to start with a little bit, to tell just a few words about Taimei. So, Taimei, it’s basically a digital innovator in the life science and clinical development field. So then, to put a bit of, you know, like set the scene a little bit, if you will, there are still so many challenges inherent to the field of research. I was saying earlier that biology is complex, and we don’t understand a lot of it, but in addition to that, the whole field of research and development is very, very complex and difficult. So, for instance, you give a bit of like numbers here. Despite all of the technological progress that we have made, there are still a high failure rate in clinical trials, with nine out of ten clinical trials that are going to fail, so this is huge. What it means in practice is like, only 10% of drugs are going to, that are in clinical trials, are actually going to make it to the clinic. And these numbers, they actually go lower, when you look at very complex therapeutic areas such as neurology and oncology, so this is one part. In addition to this, the cost of developing new drugs is very, very high. It can go up to $2.53 billion. And the average cost of, per patient for clinical trial is, on average, $300,000, so this is huge, so, per patient. And on top of this, of course, it takes 10 to 12 years to bring a new drug from concept to market. So this is, these are a lot of, you know, like difficult challenges that that need to be tackled. And on top of this, and one of the reasons why it takes so long is because it’s very hard to recruit patients. I think 80% of clinical trials, they still fail to recruit a patient in time despite, you know, always having a buffer and so on and so forth. So all of that, what it means is, like, the clinical development field is very complex. There’s a lot of processes, challenges, and it’s also a very, not a very innovative industry, sorry, where a lot of things are still very archaic, a lot of things are still done on paper. So it’s costly, timely, and high-risk. So basically, what we’re trying to do at Taimei is trying to transform, you know, the industry by accelerating clinical research and improving those processes. So we deploy machine learning in order to tackle those inefficiencies and accelerate the, and improve the overall clinical trial research. And to help, of course, pharma and biotech to reduce those risks because these are very, very challenges, very costly, as I was saying, and there’s a lot of data errors and so on and so forth, that would on top of having potential safety issues, also reducing the, sorry, increasing the overall timelines.
Saul Marquez:
Yeah, yeah. No, thanks, Juliette. There’s certainly big challenges, lots of costs, slow-moving, and a slow success rate, and so we need major improvement there. How do you believe the work you guys are doing is better or different than the options out there, right? Because there’s a lot of folks trying to innovate in this space.
Juliette Vandenbroucque:
Yeah, you’re absolutely right. And actually, I think it’s great, right? Because it’s not one company that’s going to change the world. And the fact that one company, you know, initiates those kind of, like, yeah, develop those new initiatives, new technologies, etc, you know, there’s a whole wave of new innovation that’s hopefully, you know, going to come. So it’s amazing, and I hope, you know, because at the end of the day, you know, I work in that field because I want to be, I want to play, you know, part of it, and I want to change, you know, those challenges, and I want to make sure, you know, we evolve our models in order to accelerate drug development. But basically, what’s out there right now and what makes us quite unique is that there’s, no one is really leveraging, let’s say, you know, machine learning or deploying machine learning the way we do. And that’s why we have partnered with a lot of different industry stakeholders from very, very small biotech companies, you know. I’m based in the Bay area, so I work with a lot of small biotechs as well as large pharma, and also, you know, CROs, who, of course, you know, deploy those clinical trials. And what makes us unique is like, there’s a lot platform out there that provide, you know, solutions for one problem or another or whatever. So there’s a lot of different vendors, pharma and biotechs, we’ll have to work with. And so what we do is that we offer comprehensive and integrated solution to provide them with a seamless experience, on top of having, of course, this accelerated timeline and platform to help them accelerate their clinical development. And last but not least, I would say what makes us different because we’re small, you know, so like, like any company, you know, that’s smaller compared to, you know, the big large organizations, we are very adaptable. We really foster collaboration, collaborative partnerships with our clients. We want to ensure we constantly evolve our processes and solution to address specific challenges that our partners are going through. So I think at the end of the day is, you know, we’re not just a service. I really think we’re transforming the field and setting, of course, new standard in the field to help launch product faster, safer for patients.
Saul Marquez:
So, Juliette, tell us about a setback. You know, we learn more about our setbacks than our wins sometimes.
Juliette Vandenbroucque:
Yeah, absolutely. I think, I had to think a bit about that, but I think for me, my biggest setback is having a lack of formal credential in biology, so specifically not having a PhD in science, for instance. And I started this career in biology and actually in biotech back in Paris, like a very long time ago, it was 15 years ago, and I think I really fell in love, you know, with the field. And I’m very lucky because I’m very, very curious, and I’m literally curious about everything. So, and I think that’s why I love this field so much because there’s everything you need, you know, to basically, for you to learn every day. Like, you learn all the time. It’s a very fast-paced environment that evolves every day. There’s, you know, new trends, new technologies, new discoveries, and so on and so forth. And so, it’s wonderful, you know, to be able to learn every day. And so, what I do to tackle this sort of setback of mine, let’s say, is that I proactively, you know, keep on top of industry trends. I deep dive, you know, into scientific concepts, I take online courses, I conduct my own research, and I always keep, you know, of course, an open mind. And I’m always eager, you know, to learn and to understand this, you know, very, very complex field. Another piece of it is like, I network a lot. You know, I think the best way to learn is when you ask questions to the experts, so I love doing that. I think it’s, it’s wonderful. And I think overall, you know, having this challenge, it has shaped me to be more resilient, and more adaptive, and perhaps more resourceful than other people, you know, already have a PhD, and maybe think, okay, I know it, I know everything. I think it has also forced me to demonstrate, you know, my expertise in this field. So yeah, I sort of try to leverage this as a catalyst rather than a barrier.
Saul Marquez:
Yeah, I love that, Juliette. And, you know, if you look around, whether it’s entrepreneurship, like there’s some of the most successful entrepreneurs end up getting, you know, what do they call them like, not complimentary degrees, but honorary degrees, you know, like, oh yeah, you didn’t go to school, but wow, you really know this stuff, so here’s an honorary degree from Harvard. And to your point, right, like, your curiosity has really helped you shine. And there’s a lot of assumptions that happen when you do have that formalized study, so maybe it makes you even more creative as a business person and individual. So I love that. That’s a great example. And so, as we think about healthcare trends and technology, what would you say is happening that will change healthcare as we know it?
Juliette Vandenbroucque:
So I think the most transformative trend is going to be the integration of omics data, so genomics, proteomics, and so on, with big data analytics and machine learning. So we are now sequencing a lot of data from patients. These are continuing to become cheaper, and we also have better quality. So putting, producing more and more of that high-quality data. And in parallel with that, you know, with the evolution of machine learning models that have become way more sophisticating, so sophisticated in a, in an analyzing, sorry, complex biological data, this has tremendously pushed our field forward. And so, this will have an impact, I think, of course, on drug discovery. We’re already, you know, see some companies being built, especially here in the Bay area where new drugs are being identified through machine learning, so it’s like almost like designed as well based on all of that data. The convergence of those technologies is going to also help, I guess, medical doctors and the field to enable more personalized and accurate diagnosis and treatment. So basically, we’re getting towards personalized healthcare, personalized medicine, which I think is a buzzword we hear a lot in our field. So from a one-size-fits-all, we’re really going towards highly individualized treatment. So I think these are the two things. And the last one, which in my mind is the Holy Grail, you know, and especially everybody’s talking about GhatGPT now and those models and how, you know, it has increased and enabled us to deep dive into biological system, I think, is how those machine learning models are potentially going to help us to truly understand the complexity of, you know, how genes interplay, you know, with one another, proteins, other biological markers, and how it’s going to help us to tackle and understand biological mechanism and accelerate the discovery of new therapies.
Saul Marquez:
Yeah, so there’s a lot to be excited about, Juliette. And I totally agree, the promise of these technologies is, is huge. I appreciate you sharing your vision and perspective on that. Well, look, we are here at the end. I’ve really enjoyed our discussion. Thank you so much for this. What closing thought would you leave with the listeners, and where’s the best place they could get in touch with you?
Juliette Vandenbroucque:
Thank you. I think my closing thought, and maybe looping back to your question regarding biggest setback, I think, is to always dream big. That sounds a bit, you know, cheesy, but I think, I think having ambitious goals, you know, for yourself is wonderful. I think, you know, we need to continue to dream big. I think this is thanks to big dreamers that we have had, you know, those tremendous advancements in science, technology, and so on and so forth. And so to do that, I think it’s important to, you know, surround yourself with smart and inspiring people and try to believe in yourself and equip yourself, you know, to achieve those dreams, because I think anything is possible as long as you dare to dream. And lastly, the, so if people want to reach out to me, I have a Twitter account, which I never remember the handle, but I think if they type my name they can find me. Otherwise, of course, I’m on LinkedIn.
Saul Marquez:
We’ll put it in the show notes. You could share it with us, and we’ll put it in the show notes.
Juliette Vandenbroucque:
Twitter or LinkedIn, whatever, like, yeah, happy to chat.
Saul Marquez:
Outstanding. Juliette, thank you so much for spending time with us. Folks, definitely check out the show notes on our podcast with Juliette. I think you’ll enjoy it. Hit rewind, there are some pretty good, valuable discussions that we had today. So make sure you do that. Juliette, thanks for being with us. Listeners, thanks for joining us.
Sonix has many features that you’d love including transcribe multiple languages, powerful integrations and APIs, collaboration tools, world-class support, and easily transcribe your Zoom meetings. Try Sonix for free today.
