Americans are excited by medical innovation — healthcare exec Paul Dorman explains why

After an extraordinarily successful career as an entrepreneur and investor, storied healthcare executive Paul Dorman was all set to retire. That was until he learned about advancements in submicron particle technology and what it could mean for more effective cancer treatments.

Dorman has been innovating, researching and commercializing new medical technologies for more than 40 years. Beginning his career at traditional companies like Johnson & Johnson and Baxter, he went on to found DFB Pharmaceuticals and his most current venture, NanOlogy. As CEO and chairman of DFB Pharmaceuticals, he has created more than $1.5 billion of value to date — and at 82 years old, he’s not done yet.

Dorman’s new venture, while still in early clinical trials, is rethinking cancer drug delivery and shows some incredibly promising early results. By leveraging the latest developments in submicron particle technology, NanOlogy has developed a proprietary method to create versions of the same drugs that are broken down into particles small enough to be administered directly into the tumor.

“Imagine taking a big crystal sheet of the drugs and hitting it with ultrasonic waves to shatter the crystals into millions of particles,” Dorman explained with excitement. “The submicronic particles are then directed into the tumor and constantly released to inhibit tumor growth over a period of weeks.”

Medicine is perceived, quite rightfully, as one of the most promising sectors when it comes to technological progress and innovation. A new survey fielded by the Charles Koch Institute found that, when asked about their attitudes about technology, nearly two-thirds of Americans expressed optimism about the future of medical innovation, and a solid majority expect technology to keep improving lives for the next generation. (The survey was produced by GET Creative, a division of USA Today. Members of the editorial and news staff of the USA TODAY Network were not involved in the creation of this content.)

It’s true that medical advancements have profoundly changed the contours of the human experience: We are living longer, healthier lives than at any other time in our species’ evolution.

Yet challenges remain in medicine as we know it. For example, too many Americans are familiar with the downsides of chemotherapy treatment, during which a large volume of drugs is pumped into the bloodstream where it circulates widely to reach and kill tumor cells.

There are two main problems with this protocol: First, the delivery of the drugs isn’t localized to the tumor, so they aren’t able to stay and work within the tumor for a long enough period of time. Secondly, while the drugs aren’t able to work on the tumor for a sufficient length of time, they do come into contact with other healthy cells in body that may be harmed. The latter issue is why cancer patients undergoing treatment often experience hair loss and compromised immune systems.

According to Dorman, the pace of medical innovation has been compounded and accelerated in the last few decades, building upon the many innovations that have come before. Dorman’s new method of cancer drug delivery, pioneered by NanOlogy, relies on two areas of innovative technologies that first needed to be perfected: a standardized process for manufacturing submicron particles and advanced imaging equipment that allows for accurate delivery directly into a tumor.

The optimism in this field’s future may be heartening, but not nearly as heartening as the evidence that the science is indeed improving and saving lives. After all, progress in medicine is not just a societal need but a deeply personal one.

Our accelerated age of medical innovation remains top of mind as Dorman reflects on the death of his father, who passed away from heart failure in the 70s — just a few years before bypass operations became commonplace. Dorman wondered whether his father would have been a candidate had he made it just a few more years.

Of course, today, Dorman’s father would not only have access to bypass, but also to stents, valve replacements, pacemakers and an array of options that have extended the lives of millions of Americans.

Like many of his fellow citizens, Dorman remains bullish about the future of medical innovation in this country. Even when reflecting on the various rules and regulations in the health sector, he is confident in the United States’ continued leadership. “This country is still the greatest place to be innovative in medicine,” he said. “We have the most breakthroughs, the best entrepreneurs and the best environment to innovate in medicine.”

The Charles Koch Institute is dedicated to identifying new perspectives and ideas through educational programs that move the world forward. Find out more at charleskochinstitute.org.