2022 Pipeline Conference

Every two years, the Epilepsy Foundation holds its Pipeline Conference to showcase the latest developments in the epilepsy’s pipeline from pre-clinical to right before approval by the FDA. The conference provides a forum for surveying new therapies in development, exploring advancements, and encouraging collaboration and partnerships.

This year’s Pipeline Conference took place June 5-6, 2022, both virtually and in-person at the Santa Clara Marriot in Santa Clara, California. Industry leaders and decision-makers from around the world shared ideas and provided insights in the field of epilepsy treatment, therapeutic innovation, and product development.

Watch Sessions from the 2022 Pipeline Conference

Videos of various sessions were granted prepared now available to watch. To view the available sessions, click links in the agenda below.

View the Agenda

Day 1 – Sunday, June 5, 2022

Welcome And Introduction

Jacqueline French MD, Chief Medical and Innovation Officer, Epilepsy Foundation
R. Edward Hogan, MD, President, American Epilepsy Society
Helen Cross, MD, President, International League Against Epilepsy

Session I: Impact of Covid on Clinical Trials

Moderator: Kimford Meador MD, Professor, Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine

Patient/Caregiver Perspective – Kim Nye, TESS Research Foundation
Panel Discussion: Is COVID Helping or Hurting Drug Development? with Jacqueline French, MD as moderator and the following panelists:
- R. Edward Hogan, MD, President, American Epilepsy Society
- Elaine Wirrell, MD, Mayo Clinic
- Kathryn Davis, MD, University of Pennsylvania
- Lilly Frohlich, MPH, Cerevel Therapeutics
- Kim Nye, TESS Research Foundation
Remote Trial Design – Penny Randall, MD, MBA, IQVIA

Session II: Pre-clinical Pipeline

Moderator: Pavel Klein, MD, FAES, FAAN, PrevEP, Inc.

BL-001 (drug candidate)/IrisRx Platform – Chris Reyes, PhD, Bloom Scienc
Preclinical Data Supporting the Efficacy of OV329, A Next-Generation GABA Aminotransferase Inhibitor, Against Seizures – Julia Tsai, PhD, Ovid

Session III: Personalized Medicine: How Far Have We Come And Where Are We Going?

Moderator: Brandy Fureman PhD, Chief Outcomes Officer, Epilepsy Foundation

Patient/Caregiver Perspective – Daniel Fischer, President & CEO of Tevard Biosciences
Specific Gene Mutation Screening in Infants: Who are We Finding and Who are We Missing? – Mark Fitzgerald, MD, PhD, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Gene Based Therapies: Why are They Likely to Succeed, Why are They Likely to Fail? – Annapurna Poduri, MD, MPH, Boston Children’s Hospital
Panel Discussion with Brandy Fureman, PhD as moderator and the following panelists:
- Daniel Fischer, SCN1A
- Mark Fitzgerald, MD, PhD, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- Annapurna Poduri, MD, MPH, Boston Children’s Hospital

Session IV: Pipeline for Gene Based Therapies

Moderator: Dennis Dlugos, MD, MSCE, Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Behind the Seizures Program – Nasha Fitter, Invitae
NRTX-1001: Inhibitory Neuron Cell Therapy for Drug Resistant Temporal Lobe Epilepsy – Cory Nicholas, PhD, Neurona Therapeutics
Developing STK-001: An Antisense Oligonucleotide Treatment for Dravet Syndrome – Kimberly Parkerson, MD, PhD, Stoke Therapeutics
NEUmiRNA Therapeutics: Aspiring to Cure Epilepsy – Henrik Klitgaard, PhD, NEUmiRNA Therapeutics
CODA Chemogenetic Receptor/Activator Drug – Susan Catalano, PhD, CODA Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Newly Anticipated ASO Therapeutic for a Genetic Target – Viet Nguyen, MD, Biogen
CAMP-4 - Alfica Sehgal, PhD

Session V: Digital/Device

Moderator: Robert Fisher, MD, PhD, Professor and Director, Stanford Epilepsy Center

EmbracePlus – Matteo Lai, Empatic
Epiminder – Mark Cook, MD, Epiminder
Seer – Long-Term At-Home Epilepsy Monitoring – Dean Freestone, PhD, Seer Medical
Epihunter Absence: Clinical Validation – Dirk Loeckx, PhD, MBA, Epihunter
REMI: Remote EEG Monitoring - Kris Kahlig, PhD, Praxis Precision Medicines
UNEEG 24/7 EEG™ SubQ - Lykke Blaabjerg, MSc, PhD, UNEEG Medical A/S
Replacing Trying with Knowing in Epilepsy Care - John Hixson, MD, Nile
EpiCare@Home: Enabling Virtual Epilepsy Care - Julie Nys, PhD, Byteflies

Shark Tank Competition

Moderator: Tom Stanton, Danny Did Foundation

2021 Community Prize Winner Update: An Epilepsy Self-Management and Resilience Technical App (SMART) for Adolescents & Their Community – Deborah Koltai, PhD, Duke University
2021 Investment Award Winner Update: Generalized Tonic-Clonic Seizure Detection with Video and Radar - Tobias Loddenkemper, MD, Miku

Sharks:

Kathryn Davis, MD, University of Pennsylvania
Brandy Fureman, PhD, Epilepsy Foundation
R. Edward Hogan, MD, American Epilepsy Society
David B. Moore, MD, McFarland Clinic
Noah Richmond, JD, PhD, Verily Life Sciences

Community Impact Award Finalists

An Openscience Community Developing a Smart Connected Patch to Detect Epilepsy Seizures - Clement Le Couedic, AURA Ngo
EpiPal: A Patient- and Family-Centered Software Platform for Seizure Detection, Epilepsy Safety and Management, and Treatment Insights – Amir Helmy, Epipal
Predictive Seizure Alert App - Serge Lauriou, My Medic Watch
Winner of the 2022 Shark Tank Competition Community Impact Award

Investment Award Finalists

Novel Electrodes for Brain Mapping and Assessment of Epilepsy Surgery Candidates – Pierre Wijdenes, PhD, Neuraura Biotech, Inc.
Biomarker of Early Detection of Epilepsy After Head Injury to Facilitate Proof of Principle Study of Treatment to Prevent Post-Traumatic Epilepsy – Pavel Klein, MD, FAES, FAAN, PrevEP, Inc.
Predictive Analytics for Brain Surgery – Max Sims, MBA and Brad Mahon, MindTrace Technologies, Inc.
Winner of the 2022 Shark Tank Competition Investment Award

Accelerator Award Presentation

Award Presentation – Jacqueline French, MD, Epilepsy Foundation
2022 May Liang & James Lintott Scholarship Recipients
- Wesley Kerr, MD, PhD, University of Michigan
- Katie Ihnen, MD, PhD, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
2022 Epilepsy Foundation Lifetime Accelerator Award
- Lynn Kramer, MD, FAAN, Chief Clinical Officer, Neurology Business Group, Eisai

Day 2 – Monday, June 6, 2022

Welcome

The Digital Imperative: Serving the Epilepsy Foundation – Laura Thrall, President & CEO, Epilepsy Foundation

Session VI: New Technology Adoption

Moderator: R. Edward Hogan, MD, President, American Epilepsy Society

Patient/Caregiver Perspective – Noah Richmond, JD, PhD, Verily Life Sciences, Board Member, Epilepsy Foundation
Machine Learning in Health: An Introduction into Machine Learning and Applications in Healthcare including Conditions Analysis Work in Care Studio – Paul Muret, Google
Seizure Detection Devices: Parental Needs, Coping, and How Devices Fit – Anouk van Westrhenen, MD, SEIN & LUMC, the Netherlands
Discussion: Obtaining Seizure Data Using Remote Monitoring/Devices
Focus on Reimbursement and Market Access – Jo Ellen Slurzberg, JR Associates, Inc.
Making the Case for Your Value Proposition to Payers - Ian Duncan, PhD, Santa Barbara Actuaries, Inc.
Panel Discussion: Reimbursement with R. Edward Hogan, MD as moderator and the following panelists:
- Jo Ellen Slurzberg, JR Associates, Inc.
- Ian Duncan, PhD, Santa Barbara Actuaries, Inc.

Session VII: Devices

Moderator: Hina Dave, MD, Assistant Professor, UT Southwestern Medical Center

Clinical Scenarios for Long-term Monitoring of Epileptic Seizures With a Wearable Biopotential Technology: SeizeIT2 - Lauren Swinnen, KU Leuven
A New Paradigm in Neurocare Enabled by Unobtrusive Brain Monitoring - Jennifer Dwyer, MD, PhD, NextSense
NeuroHelp: Epiness - Oren Shriki, PhD, NeuroHelp
Reinventing Brain Health: Personalized Technologies for Brain Monitoring and Stimulation - Giulio Ruffini, PhD, Neuroelectrics
Focused Ultrasound Foundation is an Image-Guided, Noninvasive, Non-Ionizing Therapeutic Technology - Vibhor Krishna, MD, SM, Focused Ultrasoun

Session VIII: Creating Equitable and Informative Trials

Moderator: Caitlin Grzeskowiak, PhD, Senior Director, Research and Innovation, Epilepsy Foundation

Patient/Caregiver Perspective – Representative Iman Jodeh, Colorado House of Representatives
Focusing Drug Trials: Seizure, Etiology or Syndrome? – Elaine Wirrell, MD, Mayo Clinic
Advancing Clinical Trial Diversity at Pfizer – Rene Lopez, MPH, Pfizer
Achieving Patient Focused Drug Development – Why are Measures that are Used, Used? – James Mitchell, MBChB, University of Liverpool
Basket Trials – Kert Viele, PhD, Berry Consultants

Session IX: Clinical Drugs

Moderator: Jacqueline French, MD, Chief Medical and Innovation Officer, Epilepsy Foundation

Rozanolixizumab in Leucine-Rich Glioma-Inactivated 1 Autoimmune Encephalitis: The LEGIONE Study - Stephen Yates, PhD, UCB Pharma
Neurocrine Biosciences NBI-921352-DEE2012 Clinical Program Overview - Brian Moseley, MD, Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc.
Abi-009 Surgically Refractory Epilepsy - Jason Hauptman, Seattle Children’s Hospita
ENX-101 - Eve Taylor, Engrail
PRAX-562 and Praxis Pipeline Updates - Kris Kahlig, PhD, Praxis Precision Medicines
Ganaxolone - Joseph Hulihan, MD - Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
XEN1101 – Next Generation KV7 Channel Opener - Chris Kenney, MD, FAAN, Xenon Pharmaceuticals
Intraventricular Therapy for Epilepsy - Eric Distad, Cerebral Therapeutics, Inc.
LP352: A Selective 5HT2c Agonist for Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies - Randall Kaye, MD, Longboard Pharmaceuticals
Darigabat: REALIZE Trial Progress - Lilly Frohlich, MPH, Cerevel Therapeutics
LPCN 2101, an Endogenous Neuroactive Steroid for Epilepsy - Ben Bruno, PharmD, PhD, Lipocine
Staccato® alprazolam - Robert Roebling, MD, UCB
Radiprodil: A NR2B-NMDA Negative Allosteric Modulator, for GRIN-Related Disorder caused by Gain of Function Mutations - Pierandrea Muglia, MD, GRIN Therapeutics
ETX-155, A Novel GABAA Positive Allosteric Modulator - Mark Versavel, MD, PhD, MBA, Eliem Therapeutics, Inc.
Novel Hypothesis-Generating Analysis of Intervals between Seizure Clusters - Sunita Misra, MD, PhD, Neurelis Inc.