Microbiologist vs. Microbiologist – Looking back

Alexey

I think we came a long way and made a lot of progress during these few years of collaboration. I did notice more understanding of each other’s skills and priorities, and increased coherence in the decision making and execution. All of the collaborative teams pass through several stages such as forming, storming, norming and performing. We all learned a lot from each other and, in my opinion, we reached the performing stage making this collaboration more productive and gratifying

Olivier

Yes definitely. We know each other better, we discuss more directly and we trust each other. Our goal is the same: doing the best job to make the project succesfull, but the ways to reach it can be different. I think academics have a better understanding where and how industrials want to go and I think this is true also for industrials. This public-private experience is much more enriching than a collaboration between several academic. I am convinced that working with industrials tend us to be more professional. This work with industrials is enriching and constitutes a great opportunity for the academic I am.

Alexey

I consider the completion of the Phase 2 studies of MEDI4893 (SAATELLITE) and MEDI3902 (EVADE) monoclonal antibodies a success as these are the novel approaches for pre-emption of either S. aureus or P. aeruginosa pneumonia in the mechanically-ventilated ICU patients, especially in the era of the growing antibiotic resistance worldwide. We learned a lot from these studies by showing that rapid PCR tests were effective in identifying the patients at risk and narrowing down the subsets of patients that could benefit the most from these antibodies. Another example is the successful completion of a large ASPIRE-ICU study, where the study team identified and recently published on S. aureus colonization being a factor independently associated with S. aureus ICU pneumonia, thus informing the development of future therapies against this disease. It all happened during the 5 years that I have been with COMBACTE and I am extremely honored of being able to participate in this collaborative effort.

Olivier

SAATELLITE was our biggest trial in the laboratory and we spent a lot of time and energy on it. I am really happy to have helped in enrolling 40% of all patients at CHU Limoges . Of course, clinicians did an enormous job, but I think such a success won’t have been possible without the involvment of the microbiology laboratory. I am convinced that the tight link we have at CHU Limoges between the ICU department and the microbiology laboratory explains part of the success and I think people who visited the site can attest on that. It reminds me of one day, late in the evening when we had to wait for the family consent, and then things gone wrong: we lost the sample for few minutes, we had technical issues wth the qPCR we had to launch three times, but we finally detected the bacterium close to midnight and the patient was enrolled. Such timeslots are not wanted, not expected, but clinical research is sometimes not far from the routine practice and each little step can be a problem you have to circumvent.

Alexey

I learned to be patient and make the best effort in considering the interests and views of other partners. As I mentioned previously in my past interview, there are different perspectives and experiences between scientists working in academia versus industry. Knowing how to recognize and benefit from such a diversity is one of the key personal lessons that I learned during this collaboration.

Olivier

Professionalism and involvment are key elements for the success. During the last years, thanks to COMBACTE, I learned a lot in clinical research and I am sure it will help me in the future.

Alexey

It feels great, of course, to be part of the large and diverse multi-talented team, and to observe the results of the years of hard work, and the infrastructure and processes established during this time, not to forget the friendship and professional connections resulting from the collaboration.

Olivier

First, you are proud to have participated in such an internationl work, proud to have interfaced with industrials and other academics which is not common, proud to have helped the whole team to bring your stone to the building. But, for reasons I can’t explain, probably passion, you think about another clinical trial in the meantime. Seeing results motivates a lot to continue research, to keep on participating in new exciting projects in the field of infectology. COMBACTE has definitely convinced me that clinical research in microbiology is the way I want to follow and specialize myself.

Alexey

Building on the response from the previous question, all of the infrastructure, processes, lessons learned, professional connections, mutual respect and friendships which came from this tremendous joint effort should make for even more productive future collaborations. It took us a while to assemble this “ship” and I would forecast the smooth sailing ahead despite some future challenges that are inevitable in clinical research and development.

Olivier

I hope this unique partnership between industrials and academics will continue in ECRAID. Of course, it sometimes creates hurdles but I think we can jump higher together! We learned a lot and now we know each other, it will strengthen our collaboration and help us in being more efficient for future research.