(5 October 2022) Amgen Korea (GM: Sang-Kyung Noh), one of the leading biotechnology companies, announced the successful hosting of the 5th Amgen Science Academy – AI: The Great Acceleration 2022 symposium from Friday, 30 September to Saturday 1 October with 1,200 HCPs from both home and abroad. The symposium was opened with the plenary session on 30 Sep and wrapped with the therapeutic area (TA)-level breakout sessions for bone diseases, CV diseases and oncology on 1 October.
An event arranged by Medical at Amgen Korea since 2017, the Amgen Science Academy is an occasion to introduce comprehensive scientific and medical approaches at Amgen, and exchange thoughts or ideas about values and utility of transformative medicines made possible through these approaches. Driven by Amgen’s strong leadership in bio science, the Academy for the past 5 years has offered a chance to explore recent medical and scientific trends on a broad range of topics from monoclonal antibody and genetics to real-world evidence (RWE) and patient-centricity.
With this year marking the 5th anniversary, artificial intelligence or AI was selected as this year’s topic. As a great deal of research and development initiatives about AI are underway, the Academy provided a venue to discuss the concept and coverage of AI technologies in the healthcare industry, application to clinical trials and treatment of patients, and utility and potential for the future.
The plenary session on the first day explored the changes driven by AI in the medical sector, from development of new drugs to diagnosis and treatment. Chaired by Yung-Jue Bang, honorary professor at Seoul National University, the Academy was joined by Matt Austin, executive director, Data Sciences, and Michi He, senior data scientist, Center for Observational Research at Amgen, who each presented how AI and machine learning (ML) are transforming development of new medicines and how ML algorithms are used to estimate prognosis of patients hospitalized with Covid-19. Prof. Joon-Beom Seo, Radiology, Seoul Asan Medical Center, then shared real-world cases of AI being put to use in the local healthcare sector.
The second day of the symposium, 1 Oct, discussed what roles AI could play and how in TAs where Amgen Korea has a strong focus on, including bone diseases, CV diseases and oncology. At the bone diseases session, Prof. Sung-Hye Kong, Endocrinology, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, presented the Utilization of Machine Learning in Bone Disease Research. At the CV diseases session, Dr. Joon-Nyung Heo, Neurology&Radiology, Yonsei University Severance Hospital, presented how ML could help predict coronary artery in stroke patients and the hemato-oncology session featured the presentation “Current & Future of AI-based Treatment for Hemato-Oncology: Experiences from Watson for Oncology” by Prof. Dae-Young Kim, Hematology, Eulji University Hospital and “Label-free Holographic Imaging and Artificial Intelligence: Applications in Hematology” by Prof. Yong-Keun Park, Physics, KAIST, Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology as detailed cases of the use of AI shared.
Victoria Elegant, Vice President, Region Head of Medical Affairs, Amgen Asia Pacific, said, “Amgen’s biology-first approach means we value explorations and discussions about the boundless potential that science holds with great scientific and medical minds, and the Amgen Science Academy was designed to bring this to life. It is very encouraging that the Academy has become one of the most representative academic programs in medicine and science at Amgen only 5 years after its launch in 2017. This year’s theme is AI, and the sky is the limit when it comes to where and how it can be put to use in the healthcare industry. During the new drug development phase, in particular, AI can dramatically reduce the time required and this is why Amgen is working towards AI- and ML-enabled transformative therapeutics. I hope the Academy was an inspiring and insightful venue to witness a synergy effect of healthcare and AI and develop ideas about how AI could be further leveraged in the future.”
Sang Noh, GM, Amgen Korea, said, “Amgen is committed to transformative medicines enabled by AI or other cutting-edge technologies in TAs with unmet medical needs, through joint R&D initiatives in bio science. We have also continued our efforts to develop new drugs using AI. This year, I’m glad to be able to discuss in-depth medical science with HCPs on the subject of AI. The 5-year-old Amgen Science Academy has grown to offer continued dialogues about the latest medical and scientific topics, thanks to HCPs who supported and cared about Amgen Korea’s Science Academy. We will continue important academic exchange with HCPs at home as part of our efforts to realize our mission – To Serve Patients.”
An e-book and history video were also revealed at the Academy to celebrate its 5th anniversary. This year’s AI-themed presentation videos will be available on the Amgen Science Academy website. And this year’s presentation videos will be shared with attendees by 30 Nov this month.
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