Patrick Lacey's son Will was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma when he was 5 months old. When he turned 2, the Lacey family was told that unfortunately Will could not be cured. On today's podcast, Patrick will talk about how he then went to work to make sure that this diagnosis was going to be an incorrect one.
After meeting Dr. Giselle Sholler, who had lost a patient to Neuroblastoma previously and was trying to find a patient that she could cure, the 2 of them and others went to work with Patrick raising money, and Dr. Sholler working on a drug called DFMO which showed promise for Will and many other pediatric cancer patients involved in the Neuroblastoma fight.
After seeing great success, the company who owned the drug shut Patrick and the doctor out from further purchasing of it, preferring to set up their own clinical trial. They decided, along with a woman named Meryl Whitmer, to set up their own Pharmaceutical company and in 106 days, they were in business themselves, having given their first patient their drug in early 2015.
The success that they have had has been groundbreaking for Neuroblastoma patients and Patrick's son Will is now a senior in high school and in the process of applying to college.