Conference chair: ‘Time of change’ for innovation, but new products for ESKD stay elusive
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Five years of debate on advances in technology for treating kidney disease has not resulted in new products coming to market, but change is underway, the Innovations in Dialysis: Expediting Advances program chair said in recent remarks.
“This is our fifth [Innovations in Dialysis: Expediting Advances] IDEAS meeting,” Jonathan Himmelfarb, MD, chair of the symposium and co-director of the Centers for Dialysis Innovation at the University of Washington, which sponsors the symposium, said. “Who knows when the first product that has been discussed at one of these meetings, gets to patients in a meaningful way.
“I think we have to have a collective sense of urgency that we need to cross the finish line,” Himmelfarb told attendees at the hybrid meeting held in Seattle. “It's not enough to be pushing forward, but we have to find a way to get new treatments to patients as best we can.”
Even with the IDEAS symposium serving as a platform to debate ideas on advancing devices to treat end-stage kidney disease, Himmelfarb said clinicians need to be careful when patients ask about new product development. “You don't want to turn hope into hype. And we don't want to give false hope, especially about timelines because none of us have a crystal ball. None of us know what technical obstacles we're going to encounter.”
Presentations at the annual conference focused on the technical details of developing new devices to treat kidney disease, including the implantable and wearable kidney. Other presentations focused on new methods of providing vascular access, as well as discussions about the role that patients play in driving technology.
“I'm sure that the first devices that get to patients are not going to be perfect, and there are going to be some problems that we're going to learn, and they will get better over time,” Himmelfarb said. “But we can't promise perfection. Perfect might be the enemy of the good. But we can promise that we will do our best and we will be a large community that pushes forward with our patients as partners to do this.”
The role of patients in shaping innovation and change is vital, he said. “ ... [W]e need coalitions, we need collaboration and ... patients as partners every step of the way. We really do need that going forward.
“I think [innovation] is going to happen,” Himmelfarb said. “I think we have the wherewithal as a community to make this happen. And I do think there is the commitment as a community where we can make these kinds of changes.
“So, I am optimistic. I don't want to over promise when or what it's going to look like, but we are with you,” Himmelfarb said. “We’re doing everything we can to make better choices for patients today.”
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Himmelfarb J. Closing remarks. Presented at: IDEAS; Aug. 15-16, 2022; Seattle (hybrid meeting).
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