Perspectives From a Neurology Career in Industry and Academia: Jean Hubble, MD

WATCH TIME: 2 minutes

“I mean this quite honestly; I was really stunned when I was in industry. I thought—and I was disabused at this notion—going in that basically they threw money at everything and were just in it to make money. I can say with absolute confidence that in the areas I was involved in, like Parkinson disease and ALS, the safety of patient care and the propelling innovative therapies was always number one.”

There are many in the general population as well as in the clinical care of patients with neurodegenerative (and otherwise) diseases who have developed a jaded perspective of the pharmaceutical industry. In the United States, particularly, the view of many of these drug developers has become less than favorable, driven by optics on drug pricing and public clashes in the political arena.

But not all physicians or clinicians have this view. Just as there are many who do, there are similarly many who have transitioned into the pharmaceutical industry in hopes of being directly involved in addressing the patient needs that they see in their day-to-day practices. One such example is Jean Hubble, MD, semi-retired neurologist and consultant, PMD Alliance. Having spent several years in academia and treating patients with movement disorders, she moved into the pharmaceutical industry in the second half of her career.

At the 2022 Advanced Therapeutics in Movement and Related Disorders (ATMRD) Congress in Washington, DC, June 17-19, Hubble sat down with the PMD Alliance to discuss the insight she gleaned from this dual-career experience. She spoke about the so-called “downs” that have plagued the view of industry for some and discussed the positives that can come from those who work in drug development.

Click here for more coverage of ATMRD 2022.