Ryan Haumschild, PharmD, MS, MBA

Panelists discuss optimizing hidradenitis suppurativa management through early intervention, personalized treatment based on disease severity, and multidisciplinary coordination led by dermatologists to improve patient outcomes and reduce disease burden.

Panelists discuss how ongoing or recurrent hair loss in patients with alopecia areata (AA) leads to significant psychological effects, impacting their mental health, and how different forms of AA may be harder for some patients to cope with, with strategies for managing these psychological challenges in clinical practice.

Panelists discuss how alopecia areata (AA) presents with hallmark symptoms such as sudden hair loss, and how the condition fluctuates over time, making it a relapsing or remitting inflammatory disease.

Panelists discuss how emerging evidence from first-line therapy trials continues to demonstrate the superiority of quadruplet over triplet regimens, with the CEPHEUS subgroup analysis confirming that even higher-risk and less-fit patients can benefit from 4-drug combinations while maintaining acceptable safety profiles.

Panelists discuss how quality of life (QOL) and treatment convenience should be balanced with maximal depth of response through personalized therapy approaches, emphasizing the importance of multidisciplinary care teams and the flexibility to adapt treatment regimens based on individual patient preferences and circumstances.

Panelists discuss the significant disparities in hidradenitis suppurativa diagnosis and care, emphasizing the impact of race, gender, geography, and socioeconomic status, and highlighting the need for culturally competent education, expanded access, and community engagement to promote earlier intervention and equitable outcomes.

Panelists discuss the mechanisms of action of gene therapy for NF1-associated plexiform neurofibromas, focusing on restoring functional neurofibromin to regulate the RAS/MAPK pathway and prevent tumor formation, while highlighting promising early clinical trial results showing reduced tumor volume and improved symptoms, alongside the need for further studies to assess long-term safety and efficacy.

Panelists discuss the vital role of multidisciplinary collaboration, provider education, and technology integration in improving early diagnosis and comprehensive management of hidradenitis suppurativa, highlighting how coordinated efforts across specialties—including pharmacists—can reduce delays, enhance equity, and optimize patient outcomes.

Panelists discuss how the epidemiology of alopecia areata (AA) varies across different patient populations, with certain forms of the disease being more prevalent in specific groups.

Panelists discuss how newer immune-based therapies and bispecific antibodies may enable fixed-duration treatment approaches that could eliminate the need for stem cell transplant in older but fit patients, potentially allowing for treatment-free intervals after achieving deep responses.

Panelists discuss how to balance achieving deeper MRD-negative responses against increased toxicity risks in transplant-ineligible patients by personalizing therapy through dose modifications, weekly vs twice-weekly dosing schedules, and careful monitoring while maintaining treatment intensity similar to clinical trials.

Panelists discuss how concurrent comorbidities, such as thyroid disorders and other autoimmune conditions, are commonly seen in patients with alopecia areata (AA) and how they complicate disease management and increase the overall burden on patients.

Panelists discuss the drivers and consequences of delayed diagnosis in hidradenitis suppurativa, emphasizing the need for provider education, clinical decision support, and multidisciplinary collaboration to promote earlier recognition and more effective, coordinated care.

Panelists discuss the challenges of timely diagnosis and comprehensive management of hidradenitis suppurativa, emphasizing the need for early recognition, multidisciplinary care, and empathy-centered approaches to address the physical, emotional, and social burden of the disease.

Panelists discuss current guidelines recommending mirdametinib for pediatric patients (2 years and older) with progressive, symptomatic NF1-associated plexiform neurofibromas that are inoperable or difficult to manage surgically, and emphasize the importance of early initiation, regular monitoring, and a multidisciplinary approach to optimize treatment outcomes.

Panelists discuss how NCCN guidelines are expected to incorporate quadruplet-based regimens as reasonable treatment approaches for transplant-ineligible patients, while emphasizing the need for personalized treatment strategies that consider individual patient frailty and high-risk genetics rather than applying uniform approaches across all older patients.

Panelists discuss how the CEPHEUS trial demonstrated that quadruplet therapy (daratumumab, bortezomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone) significantly improved minimal residual disease negativity rates compared to triplet therapy in transplant-ineligible multiple myeloma patients, achieving approximately 60% vs 47% 10–5 responses while maintaining manageable safety profiles.

Panelists discuss how biomarkers, including genetic testing and tumor profiling, can help identify patients with RAS/MEK/ERK pathway activation or specific NF1 mutations, enabling more personalized and effective treatment with therapies like mirdametinib or gene therapies for progressive, symptomatic NF1-associated plexiform neurofibromas.

Panelists discuss how the future of PAH treatment looks promising with potential for disease remission through reverse remodeling agents, emphasizing the need for continued research focus on patients with other forms of pulmonary hypertension and those with significant comorbidities.

Panelists discuss how cost-effectiveness analyses of newer therapies like sotatercept show substantial benefits in reducing clinical worsening events and potentially decreasing downstream costs through reduced hospitalizations and transplantations, supporting value-based payment models.

Panelists discuss that improving outcomes for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) requires multifaceted efforts including developing patient-centered clinical measures, managing comorbidities, leveraging digital health tools for real-time monitoring, and addressing health equity to ensure timely, personalized care that truly reflects patients’ lived experiences.

Panelists discuss the shift toward patient-centered outcomes in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and progressive pulmonary fibrosis treatment, emphasizing quality of life and symptom relief alongside lung function, while expressing optimism that emerging therapies may eventually reverse or prevent fibrosis, fundamentally transforming disease management.

Panelists discuss how emerging therapies like CAR T cells and bispecific antibodies may transform frontline treatment by potentially replacing transplant or changing induction regimens, while considering the cost implications and need for sustainable care models.

Panelists discuss how early relapse in standard-risk patients represents a failure of current risk assessment methods and may require advanced sequencing technologies to identify hidden high-risk features that traditional fluorescence in situ hybridization testing misses.

Panelists discuss how mirdametinib's oral administration offers convenience and improves compliance, especially in pediatric patients, and how its ability to stabilize progressive, symptomatic NF1-associated plexiform neurofibromas without the need for invasive procedures fills a critical gap in treatment options while also addressing potential access barriers related to insurance coverage and cost.

Panelists discuss how patient financial burden varies significantly by insurance type and often leads to treatment interruptions, while prior authorization barriers create administrative challenges that could be improved through better collaboration between medical and payer communities.

Panelists discuss how healthcare resource utilization is primarily driven by hospitalizations, medication costs, and outpatient monitoring, with early diagnosis and treatment potentially reducing long-term costs by preventing disease progression and avoiding expensive advanced therapies.

Panelists discuss how emerging, better-tolerated oral therapies for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) could improve patient adherence and simplify treatment regimens, potentially enabling combination approaches that target multiple disease pathways while reducing polypharmacy and health care costs.

Panelists discuss recent trial data demonstrating that a novel agent not only slows lung function decline but also delays oxygen dependency and improves survival in both idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and a broad progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) population, with consistent safety and tolerability supporting its expanding role in fibrotic lung disease management.

Panelists discuss how autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) deferral should be approached cautiously with concrete medical reasons, as transplant continues to provide superior progression-free survival and potentially curative outcomes for a subset of patients.