Leo Mullin, Chairman
JDRF 2010 Annual Conference
Good morning everybody. I’m really pleased to be with you today to report on the state of the foundation. As you will hear, it is an extraordinarily positive report. We have weathered a storm, primarily financial, that could have laid low a lesser organization. And we have restored and even strengthened the multiple roles of the “powerful” JDRF, as we have been described by the Wall Street Journal.
This reputation of JDRF is, in fact, one of the strongest weapons we bring in our pursuit of a cure. Nowhere is that more apparent than here in Washington. You have all returned from visits yesterday on the Hill. The reports of intended endorsement of the JDRF agenda, manifested primarily in the untiring support of so many members, are incredibly reassuring — and they are also inspiring.
All of us know the incredible pressures on government to deal with the staggering deficits ahead. To have obtained the commitments we have heard, and that I personally received from Senator Baucus, is so important in this context.
So we can take a moment to feel good about that…But then immediately remind ourselves to be relentless in the communication and follow up. Make no mistake, we are in a fire fight here, and it is a long one. We are all confident of victory in assuring the continued flow of funds into type 1 research by the federal government, because we know none of us will quit in our fight for it.
I would be remiss in proceeding if I did not note that I am a last minute substitution in delivering this address. As you know, Alan Lewis, our CEO, was scheduled to do this. As has been announced, Alan will be leaving JDRF. He has made many positive contributions in his time with us, and we thank him and wish him well in the next stage of his personal and professional life.
A change in leadership for any organization can create uncertainty. In my opinion however, the degree of uncertainty should be modest in this case. I’d cite several three key reasons for that. First, we really know what we are doing — our research strategy is well understood; the fundraising is going well; and all units of JDRF are hitting on all cylinders.
Second, we have two terrific JDRF veterans, Frank Ingrassia and Jeffrey Brewer, who are totally willing and able to step in and lead — not preside — during what we expect will be a short period before choosing our new CEO.
And third, our momentum is strong. I’ll only cite one example right now, but it’s an important one. Last year, our revenue was $145 million — not a shabby amount, but well below the $200 million plus revenue we had in 2008. I would be misstating the obvious to confess that I was worried about our ability to make a comeback so quickly. Well we are. Our revenue this year, one year after the crisis, will again exceed $200 million. Congratulations to you all.
So with that as the context, let’s talk specifically this morning about some of the great things happening at JDRF, and where we are headed.
SLIDE: A series of numbers, including 7%, 80-120, 40%, 3 million, 35,000
As a discussion technique, and because I am a recovering mathematician, I’m going to use some numbers as illustrations for the rest of this address.
In many ways, numbers rule the lives of people with type 1 diabetes and their families. Most of the numbers behind me on the screen will be very familiar to anyone with type 1 diabetes. You see the recommended A1c level for adults. You see a range for good blood sugar control. You see an estimate of how many people have type 1 diabetes. And so forth. If we had a test — which we’re not going to, so don’t worry — most of us would probably have been able to match the number with the statistic about diabetes.
So today I want to talk about these and a few other numbers — numbers for which the meaning might not seem so obvious at first glance.
SLIDE: The number “7″ appears alone on the slide
My talk is organized into seven sections this morning. Why “7″? Well, it’s a lucky number.
And for just the seventh year in our 40-year history, our research funding totals more than $100 million. As mentioned, in the face of difficult economic conditions and increased competition for charitable dollars from universities, the arts, and other medical research causes, JDRF had a very good year.
And that is thanks to you.
SLIDE: “7″ morphs into montage of fundraising events from year
With about a month to go in the fiscal year, it looks like we will have come through the recent economic difficulties very well. That reflects the basic strength and stability of JDRF, and the effective fundraising platform we have built over the years. And thankfully, we were able to realize positive gains on our investment portfolio, rather than the significant losses of the previous year.
We should also acknowledge our tight rein on expenses. Certainly, this was needed in meeting the challenges related to the economy. Our efficiency ratios remain among the best in the industry — well over 80 percent of the money we spend goes towards our mission, research.
You know, as I was reviewing the financials, another thought occurred to me. I have referenced big numbers. But I wondered “How big?” How, for example, does JDRF compare with other charitable foundations? The answer may surprise some of you.
To derive a comparison, here’s a little background.
Foundations with endowments are mandated by law to spend at least 5% of their endowment each year on their mission. If JDRF were a typical foundation that relied on its endowment to generate its revenue, then to reach JDRF’s current $200 million revenue level, we would have to be a $4 billion foundation! That would make us the 24th largest foundation in the world, or the 15th largest in the U.S.! Not bad for an organization founded on a shoestring in 1970 by Lee Ducat and her compatriots.
As impressive as that is, though, JDRF is more than numbers. We are people — people who help run a gala, or participate in a walk, or write a check to fund a piece of research. It’s all about people, one by one, adding into the tens of thousands, who make JDRF successful year after year. Here’s one of those people.
SLIDE: The number “5″ appears alone on the slide
Some fields of math and science have existed for centuries, like calculus or astronomy. They have grown increasingly sophisticated over the years, as new theories are advanced and discoveries are made. Modern diabetes research is hardly that old. But the rapidity with which new pathways are arising brings the excitement and promise of a different and faster road to a cure.
Regeneration is a perfect example. Regeneration has been an area of research focus for just a few years, but JDRF has rushed to the forefront. We are the unquestioned leader in catalyzing this new and promising area of research.
SLIDE: “5″ morphs into laboratory photo
The premise of regeneration is simple — the body has somewhat miraculous and efficient ways to expand insulin-producing beta cells. We believe we now understand far better than ever before the processes that signal beta cells to expand, reactivating those processes in people with diabetes, and therefore, letting the body restore insulin-producing cells lost when diabetes took hold. Combined with a therapy to reverse the immune process that causes type 1 diabetes, that would represent a cure.
The past year has seen a number of exciting advances in this area. Our researchers have shown that “alpha cells” — cells in the pancreas that produce glucagon, not insulin — can spontaneously convert into insulin-producing beta cells in some circumstances.
JDRF researchers are working hard now to harness this conversion potential to regenerate beta cells in people with diabetes. So why are we using the number “5″ in thinking about regeneration? Because in just the five years this area of science has become a focus for JDRF, we have come light years in our understanding of beta cell regenerative medicine.
Here’s a little closer look at one of the great advances we’ve seen in regeneration research in the past year, from Dr. Pedro Herrera, from the University of Geneva.
SLIDE: The number 17 appears alone on the slide
The past two years have been noteworthy for JDRF’s Artificial Pancreas Project, our groundbreaking program to develop systems to monitor blood sugar and deliver insulin in response.
We could talk at length about our groundbreaking partnerships with Animas, a Johnson and Johnson subsidiary, or with Becton Dickinson to speed the process of getting to an artificial pancreas. Both have been big stories this year, and have enormously enhanced the hopes of the entire JDRF family for near-term relief from this terrible disease.
But the most important part of progress is always represented by the personal impact research has on people. So I chose the number “17″ to illustrate this portion of my talk. That is the number of people who took part in one JDRF trial of an early generation artificial pancreas in the UK earlier this year. You see, this study involved 17 kids and teenagers. It tested whether an artificial pancreas could safely control diabetes overnight.
SLIDE: “17″ morphs into photo of child sleeping
After a day of helping a child manage diabetes, those who do not understand diabetes might think that at bedtime, you could sit back and relax for the first time that day. But as we all know, there is no more stressful time for parents than nighttime.
The dangers of overnight low blood sugars are a constant worry. For decades, parents have awakened in the middle of the night to test their child’s blood sugar, to wake them to make sure they are alright, or just to listen to their breathing or touch their foreheads. That’s why one of the first tests of an artificial pancreas was designed to see if the system could safely and effectively manage blood sugar while people slept.
The results were great. The kids slept peacefully through the night with their blood sugar well in range, and didn’t come close to a low. And they did so in a variety of circumstances – including after eating a particularly big meal. Our thanks to the 17 young participants in this study.
SLIDE: The number “25″ appears alone on the slide
Why “25″? Because in 2010, we had the first new treatment for people with diabetic eye disease in the last 25 years. This groundbreaking progress in stopping diabetic macular edema is a product of JDRF research investments over many years. We have worked with Johns Hopkins and the drug company Genentech to test the effectiveness of a drug, Lucentis, in stopping and reversing macular edema. Just published results show it is a huge improvement over any other treatment now available.
Half of the people treated with the drug showed improvement in their vision — not just stopping the onset of blindness, but in also yielding an improvement in vision. In quantitative terms, the results were about twice as good as using current laser treatment alone.
SLIDE: “25″ morphs into NYTimes headline
It’s worth noting that this eye study is one of more than 40 human clinical trials we are currently funding. At the beginning of this decade, we were funding about 5. That progress, as much as anything, illustrates how far our research has come. And the Genentech relationship is just one of the partnerships we have created with companies large and small over the past few years.
A quick observation on partnerships. We desperately need them. Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “An idea that does not take hold in the marketplace is a barren idea.” Extending this thought to JDRF, we are committed to ensure that our research results do reach the marketplace.
But the rule of thumb in the pharmaceutical industry is that it takes about $1.8 billion to bring one new drug to the market. Hence the increasing attention JDRF has given to partnerships. The progress has been excellent.
Over the past five years, we have gained an excellent foothold. In the biotech industry, alone, we have amassed close to 30 partnerships. We have developed partnerships with some of the largest participants in the field, such as J&J, BD, GNF/Novartis, and Roche. And there are more to come.
SLIDE: The number “4″ appears alone on the slide
Getting firm statistics on the incidence of type 1 diabetes is nearly impossible. Still, we do know that the number of new diagnoses is increasing annually at a rate exceeding anything we have seen before. Commonly, it was held that the incidence of diabetes was increasing by 2 percent per year. Now, the view is that it could be as high as 4 percent per year.
This is important in two ways. First, it shows why we need to focus considerably more of JDRF’s research on prevention. And second, it indicates why preventing and reversing the immune attack that causes diabetes is so central to our research.
SLIDE: “4″ morphs into a graph showing increase
Progress in immune therapies was strong last year. A few months ago, we saw a startling discovery that would be right at home on the Discovery Channel – the testing of a nanotechnology-based “vaccine.”
JDRF researchers cured type 1 diabetes using this nano-vaccine in mice. Nanoparticles are thousands of times smaller than the size of a cell. The vaccine worked by expanding the number of regulatory immune cells, thereby stopping the immune attack that destroys beta cells in diabetes. This was done without damaging the immune cells that protect against infections – an “antigen-specific” approach that is a key priority for JDRF.
The head scientist on the nano-vaccine project, Dr. Pere Santamaria of the University of Calgary at Alberta, is a JDRF Scholar — a research award we make to academic scientists taking creative, groundbreaking approaches. Here’s what he had to say about JDRF’s support over the years.
In just the last six weeks, Dr. Santamaria has filed the IP for a diabetes nano-vaccine. A biotech company has been formed. And JDRF is already in discussions with this new venture to translate this exciting opportunity.
SLIDE: “2011″
So, I have given you a few numbers to remember when thinking about how far we have come in research in these past 40 years. Back then, we could not have even imagined more than 40 human clinical trials, 30 corporate partners, nano-vaccines, regeneration or an artificial pancreas. Actually, we couldn’t have mentioned any of those things just 10 years ago.
SLIDE: “2011 morphs into photos of JDRF faces”
As I close this address, I feel JDRF is in a good place – undeniably as strong as it has ever been. This is despite the recent challenges, most external and some internal, that we have faced. But reflecting on my own long experience with JDRF, over 25 years, I would note that the perils of the last year are only the most recent we have encountered.
Winston Churchill wrote books entitled “The World Crisis” and “Stemming the Tide.” So could we write about JDRF! As I return to my status as a volunteer in the field, in this case the Atlanta Chapter, I want to express my gratitude for all the help you have provided in meeting our current crises, and turning against the tide, and to express my gratitude for the opportunity to serve.
Thank you all so very much.
