Big Job for 1 Man: Save 200M Children from 7k Rare Diseases
The always cheerful Dr. Robert Selliah, founder of American MedChem, is deadly serious about finding cures that could save up to 200 million children around the world.
He explains, “About 7,000 rare diseases are known and nearly 20 million children in the US and 200 million children worldwide have some form of rare disease. But for 95 percent of these rare diseases there are no effective targeted medicines. 30 percent children with rare diseases will not live to see their 5th birthday. Lack of medicines is primarily because it is not profitable for pharmaceutical companies to create medicines for these children – no market-based drivers.”
Robert explains how far reaching the problem is. “In the same way, lack of profitability for pharmaceutical companies is the reason for the lack of medicines for nearly 500 million children in poor countries afflicted with neglected tropical diseases. But sick children need safe and effective medicines too, so they can get well and enjoy a healthy life. The big question is this: what is the best gift we can give a very sick child? Answer: healing medicines. This is what forms the core value of AMC.”
So, Robert created AMC to solve these problems. “AMC as drug discovery and development technology organization creates and provides these essential targeted medicines necessary to treat children afflicted with rare diseases and neglected tropical diseases. AMC changes the status quo and fills the existing gaps in medicines to treat children, who currently have no medicines. Genetics technology is driving exact diagnosis of rare childhood diseases, but diagnosis without available treatment is useless for the children and families.”
Undaunted, Robert keeps pushing. “AMC is set up to collaborate with research leaders in biology and genetics, carry out the critical discovery and medicinal chemistry research at AMC, and bring forward clinical candidates for testing and approval by FDA. Technology is readily available, talent is plentiful, the needs are huge; but we need the strong support of philanthropy to fund this work. AMC is currently seeking major philanthropic support.”
“At AMC our commitment is to create healthy outcomes for children diagnosed with rare and neglected diseases. The status quo is unacceptable, because industry has left these kids out of the mainstream for reasons of profitability. We know that our vision can become a reality for sick kids by applying existing drug discovery technology to create very specific drugs for specific diseases. The age of precision medicine is here, and sick kids must benefit from this technology also,” Robert concluded.
AMC is presently conducting a crowdfunding campaign on Fundly with a goal of $500,000. So far, he’s raised nearly $10,000 for this work, but there is a long way to go. You can help by clicking here to learn more.
On Thursday, January 7, 2016, at 3:00 Eastern, Robert will join me here for a live discussion about his work aimed at saving 200 million children. Tune in here then to watch the interview live. Post questions in the comments below or tweet questions before the interview to @devindthorpe.
You can download an audio podcast here or subscribe via iTunes.
More about American MedChem:
Twitter: @americanmedchem
American MedChem (AMC) is a social enterprise nonprofit drug discovery and development organization with a mission to create and provide targeted medicines for children afflicted with rare and neglected diseases. AMC research model is based on collaborations with leading biology and genetics researchers at universities and institutes. The business model is designed to be sustainable by way of monetizing revenue sharing and licensing deals to create revenue streams to support the research operations.
Dr. Robert Selliah, courtesy of American MedChem
Robert’s bio:
Twitter: @robtselliah
Dr. Selliah has more than 18 years of experience in technology, leadership, and management in drug discovery, medicinal chemistry, and preclinical development in the United States and the global pharmaceutical and biotech sector. He was most recently vice president of Medicinal Chemistry at SAI Advantium Pharma in India, where he led a group of over 200 scientists. Dr. Selliah is a co-inventor of two clinical development candidates—PRLX93936 (oncology, Prolexys) and AL12182 (glaucoma, Alcon)—and several preclinical candidates, and he contributed to the discovery and development of Travatan®, a marketed prostaglandin drug for glaucoma. He currently serves as a consultant in drug discovery, medicinal chemistry, and project management to early-stage biotech companies in the U.S. Dr. Selliah received his B.S. (Special Honors in chemistry) and Ph.D. (synthetic organic chemistry) degrees from The University of Texas at Austin.
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