AAPM seeks innovative medical breakthroughs against COVID-19 in the race to save lives
One upshot of the COVID-19 pandemic: it has forever contracted the innovation cycle for biotech and healthcare companies. What once took a decade of slogging through the FDA approval process can now be a months-long “emergency use” process.
The American Association of Precision Medicine (AAPM) had already been formed when CEO and founder Dr. Prasun Mishra attended the annual JP Morgan Investors Conference in January, earlier this year. While meeting colleagues who had flown in to San Francisco from China to attend the event, he heard the alarming news of a fast-spreading virus infection in Wuhan.
Based on his previous experience studying RNA viruses and epidemics, alarms went off. Could this be early warning of an imminent pandemic? Sensing that this initial brush spark could quickly become a raging fire, he immediately went into action.
Dr. Mishra formed the APPM Coronavirus Task Force (ACT) that same month, convening a worldwide network of more than 200 experts spanning clinical, scientific, technical, and advocacy backgrounds. United in this urgent mission to save lives, they have since been focused on accelerating medical breakthroughs through research, education, and global collaboration.
AAPM-ACT then held the first virtual global conference for medical and scientific headliners in the COVID-19 arena. Six months in, AAPM-ACT is making rapid progress. The team has introduced into the marketplace a handful of patented therapeutics, healthcare diagnostics, and biotechnology innovations to fight the pandemic.
ZingPR was brought in early to help the team define its messaging and communicate its global efforts to an eager audience hungry for news on COVID-19 solutions. Recent news includes the launch of a the AAPM hackathon that invited teams across the globe, attracting some 600 applicants. Three possible solutions emerged; notable is these new ideas are gaining the attention of potential investors. After the success of this first hackathon, AAPM has decided to make it a monthly event.
Meanwhile the PR efforts are also bearing fruit: Dr. Mishra was recently featured as a Social Impact Hero in Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global Authority, “Why and How Dr. Prasun Mishra Decided to Change Our World.”
