There were two sections to the presentation. First we had a discussion about the pharmaceutical industry.  There were many questions and answers following a fairly general presentation.  The thrust of this part appeared to be that we are spending a lot for drug development, and the system for carrying out that development (and approvals) is inefficient.

Then he went on to discuss the product development approach of his company.  They have a focus on natural products, which are not generally supported by the National Institutes of Health.  The example he gave was the apparent effect that venom from the sea anemone has in controlling multiple sclerosis.  MS is an autoimmune disease, as are many others.  Shawn and his colleagues claim to have found that the sea anemone and scorpion venom can both be effective against MS and other kinds of autoimmune diseases.  His company is targeting the development of this kind of treatment into a manageable and effective treatment for MS, and perhaps other autoimmune diseases.

There was a vigorous discussion of both parts of the talk, including contributions from our members that are in related businesses.