Episode description

Kevin Tracey returns to the podcast to give an update about his work at the Feinstein Institutes and the work at SetPoint Medical.

Top 3 Takeaways:

• "Two years we discovered that a drug called Famotidine, which is sold as a generic drug Pepcid AC is actually a pharmacological or a drug-based vagus nerve stimulator. And we proved first in mice that famotidine placed directly in very small amounts placed directly in the brains of mice activates the vagus nerve. And this in turn turned off cytokine storm, which of course is a big problem in Covid 19"
• "A company that I've co-founded, Setpoint Medical, is currently deep into clinical trials in the United States called ResetRA, which is on clinical trials.gov or on the SetPoint website for rheumatoid arthritis patients. And that trial is enrolling many patients up to, I think 250 patients will be studied according to the websites and we're hoping that goes very well. And we're hoping, I'm hoping that leads to FDA approval for vagus nerve stimulation in the US in the coming days or coming in the coming months"
• "I think we're very close now to vagus nerve stimulation becoming a reality for millions of patients. And I, I hope, and I see a time when patients have the. Of  choosing vagus nerve stimulation as a simple, safe therapy instead of dangerous, expensive drugs with black box warnings that are minimally effective."

0;30 "Do you wanna introduce yourself and talk about some of your work, especially as neuromodulation pertains to the immune system?"

2:45 "So the last time when we talked it was 2020. So pandemic, everything was upside down. But then you were telling me before we started recording that it was also especially busy for you at that time. So what were you up to around then?"

6:00 What were the quantitative takeaways of the Famotidine Covid trials?

8:15 "Why didn't it become standard practice?"

11:00 "You're saying the famotidine has this effect on the vagus nerve. Does this mean we no longer need vagus nerve stimulators? Can we just take Pepcid, AC?"

15:00 Do you want to talk about the Bioelectronic Medicine Summit?

17:30 What were some of the highlights of the Summit?

 19:30 "You mentioned some interesting results. Is that something you can share now or is that something that we should be on the lookout for?"

21:30 "You were also featured recently in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, what was that like and what were the articles about?"

23:15 "So what's exciting you now for 2023 and what's on the horizon for you for the next few years?"

27:15 "Is there anything that we didn't talk about that you wanted to mention?"