This documentary, produced by Epic Stories, reveals how AbbVie’s partnership with DNDi has challenged the way that corporations traditionally engage with philanthropic partners. It’s about solving a problem by dedicating time, energy, information, education, and resources, ultimately forming a regenerative system of disruptive innovation — a hands-on approach that makes AbbVie unique in the biopharmaceutical world.

Meet retired chemist and distinguished research fellow, Dale Kempf, an AbbVie institution unto himself, who has spent his 35 year-career developing one blockbuster treatment after another. Perhaps no development is closer to his heart, however, than the potential medication for river blindness, which is currently in a phase two clinical trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo. “Neglected diseases are often diseases suffered by neglected people,” Kempf says — so certain diseases often aren’t given the same attention by the global medical community as other health risks, leaving millions of the world’s most vulnerable in a cycle of illness and poverty. This is something that AbbVie seeks to change with the ongoing commitment of its neglected diseases program, as well as with their collaboration with organizations like DNDi.

A great connector of people, Kempf has used the last decade of his time at AbbVie to assemble over 400 scientists at their headquarters in Chicago, all working pro-bono on developing this most recent river blindness treatment; a testament to how AbbVie fosters a specific kind of scientific brilliance in the service of a true humanitarian effort. But others also play their part to get this treatment to patients. Take Dr. Niki Alami, whose role at AbbVie centers on marshaling the drug from clinical trials forward —and she does so with a wealth of partners around the globe. “We think of [river blindness] as a distant problem, but it could have been any of us,” she shares.

Other key characters? Trudi Veldman, who has taken the baton from Kempf as current head of AbbVie’s neglected diseases program after he retired in 2019, works tirelessly to maintain urgency and excitement around a project that’s been years in the making. And of course, there are DNDi’s neglected disease experts, Sabine Specht and Dr. Wilfried Mutombo Kalonji, who have kept the trial running in the Congo in spite of an ebola outbreak, a volcano eruption, and constant political unrest.

At its core, their work extends far beyond one contained project, and has far-reaching effects: AbbVie’s development of an investigational drug with potential life-changing implications is not only helping to address river blindness — bringing hope to hundreds of thousands in central Africa — it’s revealing how much of the pharmaceutical industry is driven by compassion, humanity and a profound purpose to help people. “With the neglected diseases program, people saw the opportunity to have an extra impact,” Kempf says. “I think that speaks to us as human beings and it speaks to us as scientists.”

Drug development is a capricious job by nature. But even a 20-plus year career in the pharmaceutical industry couldn’t have prepared Tracey Posadas for the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but nonetheless her team rose to the challenge of championing the patient voice.

An Asset Strategy Leader at AbbVie, Posadas is responsible for shepherding drugs through the entirety of their life cycle, from development to clinical trial to market. As the world shuttered in early 2020, she and her team needed to continue advancing potentially life-saving drugs, including the coordination of clinical trials for an investigational treatment targeting a rare type of chronic leukemia, myelofibrosis. Here are three ways this team pushed forward through pandemic roadblocks, and what motivated them to stay the course:

1. Don’t let logistics impede progress. AbbVie’s team faced many logistical obstacles for clinical trials that were already in full swing when the pandemic hit – everything from drug supply delivery issues to participants missing appointments due to lack of transportation to increased COVID-19 safety protocols. But there was never a question of whether to cease progress on a global trial for a potential treatment for myelofibrosis, a rare bone marrow cancer more likely to affect people over age 50. “It was full steam ahead on how we get patients in this trial, because we believe in the science,” Posadas says. “We worked overtime to prevent delays in a time where many companies decided to take a break… our teams really went above and beyond.”
2. Embrace “red is good.” This 2020-inspired, department-wide philosophy encouraged the team to embrace challenges, even the “red” warnings that signaled a potential roadblock. “Our leadership stepped in and said, ‘What else can you do? Think differently. Go and explore. We’ll help support you,’” Posadas says. The freedom of that mindset helped the team open more trial sites, enroll more participants and complete the trial during the height of the pandemic. 
3. Keep the patient front and center. Despite long hours and many challenges, the team never lost sight of the “why:” the potential to help patients. “Keeping the team motivated and engaged in a mostly virtual environment, in the midst of their own personal struggles and challenges. It was a testament to the human spirit,” Posadas says. “When you have a purpose and you understand the why behind it, you can move mountains.”

The romantic notion of the eccentric, lone inventor is common on big screens but it’s the combined creativity of an ensemble cast that powers AbbVie’s Specialized Research in Chaotic Systems (SPaRCS) team. Led by engineer Jeff Pan, a 30-year biomedical instrument engineering veteran, SPaRCS’ mission is to invent a multitude of sci-fi-esque systems and technologies that facilitate the drug discovery process. Since its inception, the team has developed over 600 instruments to help researchers transform molecules from their discovery into efficacious, safe medications.

A handpicked band of engineers from a wide range of backgrounds, the SPaRCS team ranges from microfluidics experts to rocket engineers to marine engine designers. “I hire people who are interesting, who’re curious, who’re flexible,” Pan says. While at first glance, this might seem like an unconventional group, ultimately, the diversity of the team means each person approaches every problem with a unique solution, drawing from their specialization — often yielding unexpected inventions and discoveries along the way.

Steve Elmore, Pan’s immediate supervisor and VP of Drug Discovery Science and Technology understands SPaRCS’ way of doing things and gives the team members space to improve each division and research lab. “Let me be clear,” he says, “I never give Jeff assignments.” Instead, he makes sure other labs and teams know about SPaRCS so they can come to them with problems. “That way,” he notes, “We take approaches that no one else thinks are possible.”

The SPaRCS team is especially proud of the recent advent of BREATHE robots, a piece of technology that allows for researchers to test 24 potential drug molecules simultaneously, rather than manually testing one sample at a time. The BREATHE robots were born out of a request from an R&D team exploring potential treatments for Cystic Fibrosis, as the process of testing molecules was cumbersome and time consuming. In an unbelievable feat, the SPaRCS team delivered a solution in eight months. “It’s not the tool that I’m proud of,” Pan clarifies, “it’s the people that created it.”

A molecular biochemist by training, AbbVie neuroscientist Eric Karran leads a team of 210 scientists who are dedicated to finding a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Karran believes in “embracing the unknown,” an ethos that informs how his team approaches Alzheimer’s research, which remains one of the greatest neurological puzzles in the medical world. 

It has been so challenging to find effective therapies that many other companies have abandoned their drug discovery projects. Yet Karran and his team keep searching — relentlessly pushing past the unknowns toward a cure. We spoke to Karran about moments that shaped his career and what the future holds for neuroscience.

Epic: How does AbbVie shape the way you approach your research?

Eric Karran: They call what we do ‘discovery’ for a reason, because we do stuff no one else has done before. It’s difficult to predict how and when innovation will come. As a leader, I try to create the circumstances where my team can flourish, where their ideas can be tested. I’m very open — in fact, I like it when my team is able to say to me, “Eric, you’re wrong on this and I’ll tell you why.”

If you employ smart people, it doesn’t make sense to tell them what to do. There’s tremendous democracy in terms of coming up with an idea and they are judged on their merit: to do this we ensure our organization communicatives without hierarchy, so no one feels that their idea isn’t valued as much as someone else’s.

Can you tell us about what you and the AbbVie team are currently working on?

We focus really on two main diseases, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. What we realized is that there are some common features to these  diseases, especially in the manner in which pathological proteins are able to spread through the brain. Essentially, in these diseases neurons, the cells in your brain that do the thinking for you,  die, and then ultimately that manifests itself in a loss of cognitive function. We are focused on those diseases. We’re not giving up.

Was there ever a crucible moment in your career that shaped the way you approach your work?

I had an interesting situation where I was collaborating with an academic leader, or hoping to. I came to Alzheimer’s based on my understanding of the fundamental genetics and biochemistry: the proteins in the cells and how they interacted. I thought I knew quite a bit. I was discussing these concepts with the academic, with my entire senior leadership team in the room too. He smiled to himself and then said, “Eric, you are a really bright guy, but you actually know nothing about Alzheimer’s disease.” 

I went away and then read the literature more broadly: how it affects patients, the neuropathology, the cognitive effects. That really gave me insight into what it must be like to suffer the disease in a way that no amount of clinical papers would.  Subsequently, this  really helped me guide the research that I was doing.

What’s on the horizon for your neuroscience work at AbbVie?

We’re really going to take advantage of the foundations we’ve laid these last past five years. It takes time to get things right in science, and we’ve got some incredibly innovative approaches. I want to get those into the clinic to be tested and hopefully they will provide new therapies for  patients. That’s the next phase for us, putting more of what we’re doing toward the patient in clinical trials.