http://media.soundmedicine.org/segments/081113_5.mp3
Translational medicine has been defined as all the knowledge it takes to a get a molecule from the laboratory bench to the pill bottle on the bedside table. Wade Lange is the CEO and president of ImmuneWorks, an Indianapolis-based bio-tech company. ImmuneWorks is using translational methods to develop treatments for serious autoimmune diseases of the lung such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis or scarring of the lung, for which the only current treatment is a lung transplant. ImmuneWorks has developed a treatment to stabilize the lungs of those with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which is currently in its second clinical trial. In the past, pharmaceutical companies developed therapies by examining molecules in their laboratories, then testing them in animals and people. Today, pharmaceutical companies, physicians and medical researchers have begun collaborating to develop new therapies that rely on knowledge gleaned from patient care and scientific discoveries. According to Lange, the promise of translational medicine is bringing together doctors and researchers to create new ways to treat and cure common diseases.