Small but 'life-changing' policy helps Parkinson's patients who need emergency care at Guelph's hospital
A long-time nurse and social worker who actively works in Parkinson's disease support groups, Daly says she's thrilled the hospital in Guelph, Ont., has recently made a tweak to a long-standing practice to make it easier for Parkinson's patients to take their medications on time.
"It's life-changing," Daly said. "Life-giving and life-saving and certainly quality of life saving."
Hospitals have a policy that any medication given while a person is in the hospital must be through the pharmacy or a physicians order. Hospitals will monitor every patient's medication to avoid mixing, doubling up, choking or even overdosing. But emergency departments can be very busy and this can lead to people not getting medications on time.
One of the more common medications for Parkinson's is Levodopa, used to control some of the physical deterioration symptoms. Daly says when a dose is missed, it can lead to people not feeling "normal" again for days, weeks or even months afterwards.
The new policy at Guelph General Hospital says, an emergency department nurse is able to give permission to those with Parkinson's to take the medication they brought from home.
Daly volunteers with the southwestern Ontario branch of Parkinson Canada and her brother also has the disease. She says she's very familiar with the toll the conditions take on both a sufferer and their loved ones.
"To see them move into suffering because they haven't had their medication on time affects two people. The person with Parkinson's and the one who loves them. So it's a big deal," Daly said.
Parkinson's disease is a neurological and degenerative condition. It has no cure and can get worse over time. The most commonly known issues from PD include slowness of movement, rigidity, tremors and instability.
There are other symptoms associated with the condition including insomnia, anxiety, depression, bladder issues, faintness, leg swelling, heavy sweating, double vision and a multitude of other challenges.
Ian Smith has Parkinson's and in the past few months, he's had to go to Guelph General Hospital three times.
"[Parkinson's patients] all have different problems, some more than others ... and generally, hospitals don't like you bringing your own pills in," he said.
While Smith doesn't always feel drastic effects if he misses a pill, he's familiar with how demanding the medication schedule can be. He takes three pills a day with specific food and timing restrictions.
"My little Parkinson pill isn't high on the priority list because nobody has told them that it should be," Smith said.
By allowing Parkinson's patients to monitor their medication, he said it's less stress for both them and, he assumes, the medical professionals.
Andrea de Jong is the director of the emergency department Guelph General Hospital hospital. She said it's become a successful best practice to give emergency room nurses the power and knowledge to administer medications without having to get an order from a physician.
She said there are still restrictions on who is able to administer Parkinson's medication that's brought in from home, but nurses are very familiar with these guidelines.
"This ideally helps them go back home quicker and overall have a better experience here," she said.
Daly said that Guelph General Hospital was very quick to approve this directive with their emergency department teams and medical advisory committee and said it's in line with much of the work Parkinson Canada aims to do within hospitals.
A patient's knowledge of their own rights and their ability to advocate is a separate hurdle, she said.
"There's a double prong education piece to this... people with Parkinson's have to know that it was okay, and emerge has to know that they have Parkinson's and that it's important they get their pills on time," Daly said.
Parkinson Canada spokesperson Emma Gostovic told CBC News that the organization wasn't aware of any other hospitals in the country with a similar directive for Parkinson's patients and their medications.
Most hospitals are still aware this is a concern and are conscious of medication timing, she said. Gostovic called Guelph General Hospital's model one they'd like to "explore and share with others throughout the clinical community."
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Summit management uses these non-GAAP measures for internal budgeting and forecasting purposes and to evaluate Summit's financial performance. Summit management believes the presentation of these Non-GAAP measures is useful to investors for comparing prior periods and analyzing ongoing business trends and operating results. For further information regarding these Non-GAAP measures, please refer to the tables presenting reconciliations of our Non-GAAP results to our U.S. GAAP results and the 'Notes on our Non-GAAP Financial Information' that accompany this press release. About Ivonescimab Ivonescimab, known as SMT112 in Summit's license territories, North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Japan, and as AK112 in China and Australia, is a novel, potential first-in-class investigational bispecific antibody combining the effects of immunotherapy via a blockade of PD-1 with the anti-angiogenesis effects associated with blocking VEGF into a single molecule. 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HARMONi is a Phase III clinical trial which intends to evaluate ivonescimab combined with chemotherapy compared to placebo plus chemotherapy in patients with EGFR-mutated, locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous NSCLC who have progressed after treatment with a 3rd generation EGFR TKI (e.g., osimertinib). Enrollment in HARMONi was completed in the second half of 2024, and top-line results were announced in May of 2025. HARMONi-3 is a Phase III clinical trial which is intended to evaluate ivonescimab combined with chemotherapy compared to pembrolizumab combined with chemotherapy in patients with first-line metastatic, squamous or non-squamous NSCLC, irrespective of PD-L1 expression. HARMONi-7 is a Phase III clinical trial which is intended to evaluate ivonescimab monotherapy compared to pembrolizumab monotherapy in patients with first-line metastatic NSCLC whose tumors have high PD-L1 expression. In addition, Akeso has recently had positive read-outs in three single-region (China), randomized Phase III clinical trials for ivonescimab in NSCLC: HARMONi-A, HARMONi-2, and HARMONi-6. HARMONi-A was a Phase III clinical trial which evaluated ivonescimab combined with chemotherapy compared to placebo plus chemotherapy in patients with EGFR-mutated, locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous NSCLC who have progressed after treatment with an EGFR TKI. HARMONi-2 is a Phase III clinical trial evaluating monotherapy ivonescimab against monotherapy pembrolizumab in patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC whose tumors have positive PD-L1 expression. HARMONi-6 is a Phase III clinical trial evaluating ivonescimab in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy compared with tislelizumab, an anti-PD-1 antibody, in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced or metastatic squamous NSCLC, irrespective of PD-L1 expression. Ivonescimab is an investigational therapy that is not approved by any regulatory authority in Summit's license territories, including the United States and Europe. Ivonescimab was initially approved for marketing authorization in China in May 2024. Ivonescimab was granted Fast Track designation by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for the HARMONi clinical trial setting. About Summit Therapeutics Summit Therapeutics Inc. is a biopharmaceutical oncology company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of patient-, physician-, caregiver- and societal-friendly medicinal therapies intended to improve quality of life, increase potential duration of life, and resolve serious unmet medical needs. Summit was founded in 2003 and our shares are listed on the Nasdaq Global Market (symbol "SMMT"). We are headquartered in Miami, Florida, and we have additional offices in Menlo Park, California, and Oxford, UK. For more information, please visit and follow us on X @SMMT_TX. Summit Forward-looking Statements Any statements in this press release about the Company's future expectations, plans and prospects, including but not limited to, statements about the clinical and preclinical development of the Company's product candidates, entry into and actions related to the Company's partnership with Akeso Inc., the Company's anticipated spending and cash runway, the therapeutic potential of the Company's product candidates, the potential commercialization of the Company's product candidates, the timing of initiation, completion and availability of data from clinical trials, the potential submission of applications for marketing approvals, potential acquisitions, statements about the previously disclosed At-The-Market equity offering program ('ATM Program'), the expected proceeds and uses thereof, the Company's estimates regarding stock-based compensation, and other statements containing the words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "target," "would," and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including the Company's ability to sell shares of our common stock under the ATM Program, the conditions affecting the capital markets, general economic, industry, or political conditions, the results of our evaluation of the underlying data in connection with the development and commercialization activities for ivonescimab, the outcome of discussions with regulatory authorities, including the Food and Drug Administration, the uncertainties inherent in the initiation of future clinical trials, availability and timing of data from ongoing and future clinical trials, the results of such trials, and their success, global public health crises, that may affect timing and status of our clinical trials and operations, whether preliminary results from a clinical trial will be predictive of the final results of that trial or whether results of early clinical trials or preclinical studies will be indicative of the results of later clinical trials, whether business development opportunities to expand the Company's pipeline of drug candidates, including without limitation, through potential acquisitions of, and/or collaborations with, other entities occur, expectations for regulatory approvals, laws and regulations affecting government contracts and funding awards, availability of funding sufficient for the Company's foreseeable and unforeseeable operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements and other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" and 'Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations' sections of filings that the Company makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any change to our ongoing trials could cause delays, affect our future expenses, and add uncertainty to our commercialization efforts, as well as to affect the likelihood of the successful completion of clinical development of ivonescimab. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. In addition, any forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views only as of the date of this release and should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any subsequent date. The Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements included in this press release. Summit Therapeutics and the Summit Therapeutics logo are trademarks of Summit Therapeutics Inc. Copyright 2025, Summit Therapeutics Inc. All Rights Reserved Summit Therapeutics Inc. GAAP Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet Information (in millions) Unaudited December 31, 2024 Cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments $ 297.9 $ 412.3 Total assets $ 324.0 $ 435.6 Total liabilities $ 64.6 $ 46.8 Total stockholders' equity $ 259.4 $ 388.7 Expand Summit Therapeutics Inc. GAAP Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows Information (in millions) Unaudited Six Months Ended June 30, 2025 2024 Net cash used in operating activities $ (127.9 ) $ (63.1 ) Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities 310.9 (180.2 ) Net cash provided by financing activities 9.9 200.7 Effect of exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents 0.1 — Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash $ 193.0 $ (42.6 ) Expand Summit Therapeutics Inc. Schedule Reconciling Selected Non-GAAP Financial Measures (Unaudited) (in millions, except per share data) Three Months Ended June 30, Six Months Ended June 30, 2025 2024 2025 2024 Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Research and Development Expense GAAP Research and development $ 208.0 $ 30.8 $ 259.3 $ 61.7 Stock-based compensation (Note 1) (128.6 ) (3.5 ) (132.7 ) (5.9 ) Non-GAAP Research and development $ 79.4 $ 27.3 $ 126.6 $ 55.8 Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP General and Administrative Expenses GAAP General and administrative $ 360.4 $ 13.8 $ 376.0 $ 25.3 Stock-based compensation (Note 1) (350.2 ) (7.6 ) (357.2 ) (14.7 ) Non-GAAP General and administrative $ 10.2 $ 6.2 $ 18.8 $ 10.6 Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Operating Expenses GAAP Operating expenses $ 568.4 $ 59.6 $ 635.3 $ 102.0 Stock-based compensation (Note 1) (478.8 ) (11.1 ) (489.9 ) (20.6 ) Non-GAAP Operating expense $ 89.6 $ 48.5 $ 145.4 $ 81.4 Reconciliation of GAAP Net Loss to Non-GAAP Net Loss GAAP Net Loss $ (565.7 ) $ (60.4 ) $ (628.6 ) $ (103.9 ) Stock-based compensation (Note 1) 478.8 11.1 489.9 20.6 Non-GAAP Net Loss $ (86.9 ) $ (49.3 ) $ (138.7 ) $ (83.3 ) Reconciliation of GAAP Net Loss to Non-GAAP Net Loss Per Common Share GAAP Net Loss Per Basic and Diluted Common Share $ (0.76 ) $ (0.09 ) $ (0.85 ) $ (0.15 ) Stock-based compensation (Note 1) 0.64 0.02 0.66 0.03 Non-GAAP Net loss Per Basic and Diluted Common Share $ (0.12 ) $ (0.07 ) $ (0.19 ) $ (0.12 ) Basic and Diluted Common Shares 742.6 707.9 740.4 704.8 Expand Summit Therapeutics Inc. Schedule Reconciling Selected Non-GAAP Financial Measures (in millions) Unaudited June 30, 2025 March 31, 2025 December 31, 2024 September 30, 2024 June 30, 2024 Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Operating Expenses GAAP Operating expenses $ 568.4 $ 66.8 $ 65.6 $ 58.4 $ 59.6 Stock-based compensation (Note 1) (478.8 ) (11.1 ) (11.0 ) (19.4 ) (11.1 ) Non-GAAP Operating Expense (Note 2) $ 89.6 $ 55.7 $ 54.6 $ 39.0 $ 48.5 Reconciliation of GAAP Net Loss to Non-GAAP Net Loss GAAP Net Loss $ (565.7 ) $ (62.9 ) $ (61.2 ) $ (56.3 ) $ (60.4 ) Stock-based compensation (Note 1) 478.8 11.1 11.0 19.4 11.1 Non-GAAP Net Loss (Note 2) $ (86.9 ) $ (51.8 ) $ (50.2 ) $ (36.9 ) $ (49.3 ) Expand Summit Therapeutics Inc. Notes on our Non-GAAP Financial Information Non-GAAP financial measures adjust GAAP financial measures for the items listed below. These Non-GAAP measures should be viewed in addition to, and not as a substitute for Summit's reported GAAP results, and may be different from Non-GAAP measures used by other companies. In addition, these Non-GAAP measures are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. Summit management uses these non-GAAP measures for internal budgeting and forecasting purposes and to evaluate Summit's financial performance. Summit management believes the presentation of these Non-GAAP measures is useful to investors for comparing prior periods and analyzing ongoing business trends and operating results. Each of non-GAAP Research and Development Expense, non-GAAP General and Administrative Expenses, non-GAAP Operating Expenses, Non-GAAP Net Loss and Non-GAAP EPS differ from GAAP in that such measures exclude the non-cash charges and costs associated with stock-based compensation. Note 1: Stock-based compensation is a non-cash charge and costs calculated for this expense can vary year-over-year depending on the stock price of awards on the date of grant as well as the timing of compensation award arrangements. Note 2: Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2024, the Company's non-GAAP financial measures will no longer exclude acquired in-process research and development expenses ('IPR&D'). Non-GAAP financial measures for the three months ended June 30, 2024 previously excluded $15.0 million of IPR&D which represented an upfront payment made to Akeso under an amendment to the Collaboration and License Agreement. Prior period amounts have been revised to conform to the current period presentation. Appendix: Glossary of Critical Terms Contained Herein Affinity – Affinity is the strength of binding of a molecule, such as a protein or antibody, to another molecule, such as a ligand. Avidity – Avidity is the accumulated strength of multiple binding interactions. Angiogenesis – Angiogenesis is the development, formation, and maintenance of blood vessel structures. Without sufficient blood flow, tissue may experience hypoxia (insufficient oxygen) or lack of nutrition, which may cause cell death. 1 Cooperative binding – Cooperative binding occurs when the number of binding sites on the molecule that can be occupied by a specific ligand (e.g., protein) is impacted by the ligand's concentration. For example, this can be due to an affinity for the ligand that depends on the amount of ligand bound or the binding strength of the molecule to one ligand based on the concentration of another ligand, increasing the chance of another ligand binding to the compound. 2 Immunotherapy – Immunotherapy is a type of treatment, including cancer treatments, that help a person's immune system fight cancer. Examples include anti-PD-1 therapies. 3 Intracranial - Within the cranium or skull. PD-1 – Programmed cell Death protein 1 is a protein on the surface of T cells and other cells. PD-1 plays a key role in reducing the regulation of ineffective or harmful immune responses and maintaining immune tolerance. However, with respect to cancer tumor cells, PD-1 can act as a stopping mechanism (a brake or checkpoint) by binding to PD-L1 ligands that exist on tumor cells and preventing the T cells from targeting cancerous tumor cells. 4 PD-L1 – Programmed cell Death Ligand 1 is expressed by cancerous tumor cells as an adaptive immune mechanism to escape anti-tumor responses, thus believed to suppress the immune system's response to the presence of cancer cells. 5 PD-L1 TPS – PD-L1 Tumor Proportion Score represents the percentage of tumor cells that express PD-L1 proteins. PFS – Progression-Free Survival. RANO – Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology, the standard for assessing the response of a brain or spinal cord tumor to therapy. SQ-NSCLC – Non-small cell lung cancer tumors of squamous histology. T Cells – T cells are a type of white blood cell that is a component of the immune system that, in general, fights against infection and harmful cells like tumor cells. 6 Tetravalent – A tetravalent molecule has four binding sites or regions. Tumor Microenvironment – The tumor microenvironment is the ecosystem that surrounds a tumor inside the body. It includes immune cells, the extracellular matrix, blood vessels and other cells, like fibroblasts. A tumor and its microenvironment constantly interact and influence each other, either positively or negatively. 7 VEGF – Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor is a signaling protein that promotes angiogenesis. 8 __________________ 1 Shibuya M. Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) and Its Receptor (VEGFR) Signaling in Angiogenesis: A Crucial Target for Anti- and Pro-Angiogenic Therapies. Genes Cancer. 2011 Dec;2(12):1097-105 2 Stefan MI, Le Novère N. Cooperative binding. PLoS Comput Biol. 2013;9(6) 3 US National Cancer Institute, a part of the National Institute of Health (NIH). Accessed April 2024. 4 Han Y, et al. PD-1/PD-L1 Pathway: Current Researches in Cancer. Am J Cancer Res. 2020 Mar 1;10(3):727-742. 5 Han Y, et al. PD-1/PD-L1 Pathway: Current Researches in Cancer. Am J Cancer Res. 2020 Mar 1;10(3):727-742. 6 Cleveland Clinic. Accessed April 2024. 7 MD Anderson Cancer Center. Accessed April 2024. 8 Shibuya M. Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) and Its Receptor (VEGFR) Signaling in Angiogenesis: A Crucial Target for Anti- and Pro-Angiogenic Therapies. Genes Cancer. 2011 Dec;2(12):1097-105. Expand
Engadget
a day ago
- Engadget
AI summaries can downplay medical issues for female patients, UK research finds
The latest example of bias permeating artificial intelligence comes from the medical field. A new study surveyed real case notes from 617 adult social care workers in the UK and found that when large language models summarized the notes, they were more likely to omit language such as "disabled," "unable" or "complex" when the patient was tagged as female, which could lead to women receiving insufficient or inaccurate medical care. Research led by the London School of Economics and Political Science ran the same case notes through two LLMs — Meta's Llama 3 and Google's Gemma — and swapped the patient's gender, and the AI tools often provided two very different patient snapshots. While Llama 3 showed no gender-based differences across the surveyed metrics, Gemma had significant examples of this bias. Google's AI summaries produced disparities as drastic as "Mr Smith is an 84-year-old man who lives alone and has a complex medical history, no care package and poor mobility" for a male patient, while the same case notes with credited to a female patient provided: "Mrs Smith is an 84-year-old living alone. Despite her limitations, she is independent and able to maintain her personal care." Recent research has uncovered biases against women in the medical sector, both in clinical research and in patient diagnosis . The stats also trend worse for racial and ethnic minorities and for the LGBTQ community . It's the latest stark reminder that LLMs are only as good as the information they are trained on and the people deciding how they are trained . The particularly concerning takeaway from this research was that UK authorities have been using LLMs in care practices, but without always detailing which models are being introduced or in what capacity. "We know these models are being used very widely and what's concerning is that we found very meaningful differences between measures of bias in different models,' lead author Dr. Sam Rickman said, noting that the Google model was particularly likely to dismiss mental and physical health issues for women. "Because the amount of care you get is determined on the basis of perceived need, this could result in women receiving less care if biased models are used in practice. But we don't actually know which models are being used at the moment."
