COVID-19 Year Two: Looking Back/Looking Forward

We welcomed 200+ attendees to our inaugural Life Sciences MoForum on COVID-19 Year Two: Looking Back/Looking Forward, a panel discussion with Survivor Corps and Hugo Health moderated by Morrison & Foerster's Life Sciences Transactions + Licensing Group. We look forward to our next MoForum. Topics during this virtual program included:

• COVID-19 Year Two – lessons learned, mistakes made, and where we go from here.
• COVID-19 Variants – what are they, where did they come from, and should we be worried?
• The COVID-19 Experience – understanding symptoms and why the virus affects people differently.
• The Worldwide Vaccine Rollout – how has COVID-19 impacted drug development, manufacturing, and distribution? What are the key regulatory issues companies have faced in developing therapeutics and vaccines to address COVID-19?
• The Future of Drug Development – what does the future look like for the development of drugs to treat and cure disease? What are the critical considerations for collaborations between and among companies, universities, non-profits, foundations, governments, and other key players in addressing viral threats?
• The COVID-19 Response – lessons learned in facing a worldwide viral threat.

Moderator:

Matthew Karlyn, life sciences transactions + licensing partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP with over 25 years of experience in working with companies in the healthcare, pharmaceutical, medical device, and technology industries on a wide range of commercial life sciences, licensing, and technology transactions.

Speakers:

• Diana Berrent, founder of Survivor Corps, a grassroots solution-based movement to mobilize those affected by COVID-19 to come together, participate in medical and scientific research, and take a more active role in trying to mitigate this pandemic;
• Dr. Harlan Krumholz, cardiologist and scientist at Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital and co-founder of Hugo Health, a patient-centric platform to engage people as partners in research and facilitate the secure movement of digital health data; and
• Dr. Elizabeth (Liz) Newman, scientific analyst at Morrison & Foerster LLP with a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from New York Medical College, where she studied antibody responses to influenza and concentrated on viral genomics and vaccine design.