Sponsored Symposia

Severe Asthma: Navigating Unchartered Waters


Date: Sunday, 26th March 2023
Time: 0645-0815 (Breakfast served from 0645hrs and symposia starting at 0715hrs to 0815hrs)
Speakers: David Jackson (UK) , Dr James Fingleton (NZ) and Prof Vanessa McDonald (NSW)
Synopsis: 
Despite significant effort to reduce disparities in health care with policy reform, there remain gaps and unmet needs in respiratory systems of care, particularly around severe asthma which will be a focus of the presentations. Asthma patients remain underdiagnosed, mismanaged or misinformed which can lead to delays in optimal care and great burden on the patients, clinicians, health services and health budget.

Using examples of models of care, patient charters and quality standards from their respective countries i.e. UK, Australia and New Zealand, the speakers will address existing disparities in respiratory healthcare pertaining to management of asthma.

 

Progressive Pulmonary Fibrosis – addressing current disparities in disease management and preparing for the future

 

Boehringer Ingelheim Evening Symposia

Date: Sunday, 26th March 2023
Time: 1730 – 1915hrs (networking drinks from 1730, presentation starts 1745)
Room: Conway C1 and C2
Chair: A/Prof Nicole Goh (AU
Speakers: Dr Justin Oldham (US), Prof Margaret Wilsher (NZ), Dr Gabriella Tikellis (AU)
Synopsis:
Management of progressive pulmonary fibrosis poses significant challenges and places a considerable burden on healthcare resources, thus early identification, and management of PPF is critical to improve patient outcomes. In this symposium, speakers will provide an update on advances in diagnostics and the management landscape of PPF as well as sharing insight into exciting future developments including the “Fibroneer” studies. The symposium will also address how disparities in access to treatment can be overcome, particularly in regional areas of Australia.

 

 Beyond asthma control: can clinical remission be achieved in the era of biologics?

 

GSK Evening Symposia

Date: Monday, 26th March 2023
Time: 1730 – 1915hrs (networking drinks from 1730, presentation starts 1745)
Room: Conway C1 and C2
Chair: Dr Angela Moran (NZ)
Speakers: Dr Angela Moran (NZ), A/Prof Andrew Ostor (AU), Prof Ian Pavord (UK), Prof Peter Wark (AU) 
Synopsis:
Personalised management and targeted treatment of the underlying pathophysiology has become crucial to gain better outcomes for asthma patients, who wish to live symptom-free with no impact to their lives from their disease. With the advent of various targeted therapies such as effective biologics for the treatment of asthma, there is renewed interest over the last 2 years to better understand the potential of clinical remission as a realistic therapeutic goal for asthma patients, with an opportunity to do more for patients than just control of asthma.

This symposium brings together experts in the fields of respiratory medicine to discuss:

  1. Current developing frameworks and definitions for asthma remission
  2. Learnings on remission from other chronic inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, and
  3. Recent real-world evidence on the role of biologics in attaining on-treatment remission in severe asthma

 

Sharing real-world CF experience across the Tasman: starting and keeping patients on a triple combination CFTR modulator

Vertex Breakfast Symposia

Date: Monday, 27th March 2023
Time: 0645-0815hrs (Breakfast served from 0645hrs and symposia starting at 0715hrs to 0815hrs)
Room: Conway C1 and C2
Chair: A/Prof Philip Pattemore, Christchurch Hospital
Speakers: Dr Andrew Tai, Women’s and Children’s Hospital Adelaide & Dr Louisa Owens, Sydney Children’s Hospital
Synopsis:
Triple combination CFTR modulator therapy or elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor has been used for the treatment of people with CF aged 12 years and over for 3 years in Australia. During this time, there has much clinical experience gained on how best to initiate patients on this therapy. Peer-to-peer sharing of clinical experience has been useful in managing more complex or challenging patients. Whilst sharing the logistical considerations at a clinic level has allowed clinics to better anticipate the preparation required for an influx of patients taking a CFTR modulator for the first time.With the announcement of availability in New Zealand for those aged 6 years and older (with at least one F508del mutation) and recent Australian regulatory approval for those aged 6-11 years (with at least one F508del mutation), there is much that can be learned from the clinical experience to date with triple combination therapy that can be applied to treat younger patients and those in New Zealand who will mostly be treated with a CFTR modulator for the first time. 

 

Provide theoretical and practical guidance for assessing multiple inflammatory pathways in clinical practice, in the management of severe uncontrolled asthma

Sanofi Breakfast Symposia

Date: Tuesday, 28th March 2023
Time: 0645-0815hrs (Breakfast served from 0645hrs and symposia starting at 0715hrs to 0815hrs)
Room: Conway C1 and C2
Chair: To be advised
Speakers: To be advised
Synopsis:
Asthma is a diverse and heterogeneous condition estimated to affect approximately 2.7 million people globally, of whom 3% to 10% experience severe disease.(1,2)  Type 2 inflammation is the primary pathology underlying both allergic and eosinophilic asthma and is observed in 50-70% of all patients with asthma.(3-5) The proinflammatory cytokines IL-4 and IL-13 are 2 key and central drivers of type 2 inflammation underlying asthma and other atopic conditions, such as atopic dermatitis, chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps. (6,7) Biomarkers of type 2 airway inflammation have clinical significance in severe asthma management, and differ in their diagnostic, predictive and prognostic utility. (6,8,9) As no single biomarker fully characterises or captures the diversity and broad spectrum of Type 2 asthma 1 this symposium aims to provide theoretical and practical guidance for assessing multiple inflammatory pathways in clinical practice.

List of references:

  1. Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). Global Strategy for Asthma Managementand Prevention. 2022. Accessed November 2022
  2. Vos T, Allen C, Arora M, Barber RM, Bhutta ZA, Brown A, et al. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 310 diseases and injuries, 1990e2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. Lancet 2016;388:1545-602.
  3. Fahy JV. Type 2 inflammation in asthma—present in most, absent in many. Nat Rev Immunol 2015;15:57-65
  4. Wenzel S. Severe asthma: from characteristics to phenotypes to endotypes. Clin Exp Allergy 2012;42:650-8.
  5. Woodruff PG, Modrek B, Choy DF, Jia G, Abbas AR, Ellwanger A, et al. Thelper type 2-driven inflammation defines major subphenotypes of asthma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2009;180:388-95.
  6. Gandhi NA, Bennett BL, Graham NM, Pirozzi G, Stahl N, Yancopoulos GD. Targeting key proximal drivers of type 2 inflammation in disease. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2016;15:35-50.
  7. Gandhi NA, Pirozzi G, Graham NMH. Commonality of the IL-4/IL-13 pathway in atopic diseases. Expert Rev Clin Immunol 2017;13:425-37.
  8. Narendra D, et al. Semin Immunol. 2019;46:101332.
  9. Parulekar AD, at al. Curr Opin Pulm Med. 2016;22(1):59-68.