singularity university epiphany

[Andrew Hessel]

It's fascinating to learn that I am behind the curve.  I'm not used to that.

In the time that it's taken to stress-test the Pink Army Cooperative idea, create and launch the coop, and get some of the messaging sorted out, the technology has been leaping ahead.

In 2007, a genome sequence cost between $1m and $2m dollars.
In February 2008, it was $350k.  By November, it was $99k.
In mid-2009, it was $45k.
Today, it is about $10k.
And it's still falling fast....

Even as aggressive as I know I think, I believe I've been underestimating the rate of change...

I saw that today that in a few years, personalized cancer test collection kits, processing, and medicine development will be similar to what home genotyping kits are today.  Order online.  A sample collection kit is mailed to you.  You take it to your doctor and they collect the sample and send it away by Fedex.  And a few weeks later, you receive a medicine in the mail.  All the data is available to you online -- the sequence of your cancer (compared to normal cells), the design of your custom therapeutic, the test results on your own cancer.  The medicine will not be sold or guaranteed.  It's up to you to inject and/or inhale it.  No guarantees.  You purchased a drug design service from your cooperative drug company.  If you choose to take it, you self-report the findings.

Wow.  Could this really be the future of cancer?

Comments?

Andrew

Founder, Pink Army Cooperative
Bioinformatics/Biotechnology Co-Chair, Singularity University
780.868.3169

[Andrew Hessel]

On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 9:29 AM, Jeff Vermeer <je...@vermeer.ca> wrote:

I think that this news is wonderful and very promising, however we
need to work on messaging... Is Pink Army a Drug Company? or an
alternative to?

I've been telling Ali to simplify.  Most of what I do is work on messaging.  The immediate goal is to wake people up and get them connected to start sharing these ideas, waking people up, and focusing time and energy on a "do it for ourselves" path.

I can tell you this: Pink Army is not a drug company.  We don't sell drugs.  If the concept works, we would give them away.  And we could never guarantee them because if people took them, it would constitute a n-of-1 clinical trial.

 

Are we a virotherapy company?

No. Same reason.  We don't make drugs.  Virotherapies are just one possible modality of treatment, one that I champion because a) there is a long history of their early successful use in trialst; b) companies are working on them today; c) they're flexible; d) they are tractable using synbio tools.
 

A cancer treatment collective?

Yes.
 

What do we sell? Is it drugs? Treatment? Cures?

We do not sell drugs or treatments and there are no cures for cancer any more than there are cures for disk corruption, bacteria, or jealousy.  If everything worked, we would be a self-interested collective with a high-throughput design-build-test-delivery platform for personalized medicines.
 

What is the intent of innovating outside the drug company model is you
then call yourself a drug company?

I have never called Pink Army a drug company.
 

I would like to speak with you about this more.... When is of key concern...

My time is almost fully booked through next week.  But I do respond to emails asap.
 

I can solve problems but I am really fighting for time to do that...

I am really thankful and appreciative for your help, and feel that we're closer to that messaging breakthrough that will take us viral than ever before.
 

Certain things, like logo, aersthetics and treatment, I can have
someone look at, but those services are pay-for... I am more concerned
about tightening your presentation...

Yes, I know.  I have been asking Ali that I want focus on new share purchase database and social web functionality.  Buy a theme!  They're cheap.  We can outsource a logo.  I get this.  And it's not YOU or ALI that needs to get my presentation tightened.  You're not the ones that have to give it and will never quite get the timing of it down.  I give kickass presentations because I spend all my time in front of people.  But every medium is different....   I don't think you're the experts in viral marketing.  Where can we get some?

The site has to be HONEST, emotionally resonate, and make it easy for connection.  We need to connect and inspire.

THANK YOU!
 

When you have time,

Sorry, this is about all the time I will have today.  If you're up late, I am happy to give you time!  SU is VERY intensive and eats up 10 days...

Keep it simple, guys.  Don't go off on tangents where things get more complex.  Complexity of vision will not give us supporters.  It will just confuse people.

 

Jeff

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[Isabel Walcott Draves]

The Lauder foundation has gotten on the "personalized, targeted
therapy" bandwagon - how about approaching them for a partnership?

On Thu, Mar 4, 2010 at 11:41 PM, Andrew Hessel <ahe...@gmail.com> wrote:

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Isabel Walcott Draves
Strategic Consulting
Building Online Communities Since 1995
isa...@draves.org
917-312-5999

[Bryan Bishop]

On Thu, Mar 4, 2010 at 10:41 PM, Andrew Hessel wrote:
> It's fascinating to learn that I am behind the curve.  I'm not used to that.

I took a few days to think about your proposal (below), and I have
come up with my rebuttal or counter-vision.

> I saw that today that in a few years, personalized cancer test collection
> kits, processing, and medicine development will be similar to what home
> genotyping kits are today.  Order online.  A sample collection kit is mailed
> to you.  You take it to your doctor and they collect the sample and send it
> away by Fedex.  And a few weeks later, you receive a medicine in the mail.
> All the data is available to you online -- the sequence of your cancer
> (compared to normal cells), the design of your custom therapeutic, the test
> results on your own cancer.  The medicine will not be sold or guaranteed.
> It's up to you to inject and/or inhale it.  No guarantees.  You purchased a
> drug design service from your cooperative drug company.  If you choose to
> take it, you self-report the findings.

To me, it seems that personalized medicine is going to go towards a
subscribe-to-thrive model, i.e. subscription-based health care. At the
moment, the U.S. medical system already somewhat works like this.
Through your health care plan and insurance company, you have access
to medical care "at special price". But, it doesn't really feel like
subscribing to thrive because it's definitely *not* preventive (it's
presently, and completely, reactionary).

In the subscribe-to-survive model, you subscribe to drug design
services for whatever unique opportunity you are trying to pursue in
your life: whether it's maybe you trying to fight the latest strain of
the flu, or maybe if an athlete needs to be at his best and doesn't
know which Genescient products to pursue, etc.

To get to this point, Pink Army is a good stepping stone, and in due
time with the inevitable success that it will have, I am sure that it
can easily expand to "health design".

The healthcare industry desperately needs something in the mix to
breakout from the traditional spectrum of socialized healthcare versus
private healthcare.

- Bryan
http://heybryan.org/
1 512 203 0507