March 2023 fireside chat follow-up

Incoming Chief Operating Officer Ryan Fischer sat down with Alana on Sunday, March 12th for his first meet-and-greet with the community.

Ryan gave us a window into:

• How important is it to understand which elements of the current system in drug development are “a bit broken,” and ways to get your goals achieved anyway; 
• How to approach clinical trials versus treatments (and how to understand why some of them fail); 
• What he can do for global chapters to help them start to work on their own regulatory environments, so that they can start to pave the way for clinical trials and approval processes; 
• How he wants us to work to avoid a backlog in clinical trials - which he called “criminal.” “The sooner we get answers, the better.”

Ryan answered questions from the audience, including:

• A question about the recent Wall Street Journal article on a new Friedreich’s ataxia drug, which was approved using a natural history study, and whether FAST should work this angle.
• A question asking about advocacy talking points, from someone meeting with a representative this week.
• A question on Silicon Valley Bank and the risks to current AS projects in the pipeline. We learned that, in the pre-clinical space where big money isn't being spent yet, a few partners informed us this week that they’re closing - again emphasizing the need for our community to control our own future as much as we can.