Teaser for “How Sex & Gender Impact Efficacy of Drugs”
Did you know that in 2013, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US had to change the labels on Zolpidem, a sleep disorder medication, to halve the dosage for women who were suffering from much more severe side effects (sometimes leading to death)?
Or that prescribing Aspirin to women can reduce the risk of stroke, but prescribing the same drug to men will reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease?
Women’s brains are affected differently by diseases, their symptoms, and treatment.
Panel 6 “How Sex & Gender Impact Efficacy of Drugs”, will analyze the issue of differential effect of drugs by sex and how this should be considered in clinical trials. We will look at different examples, from stroke, psychiatric conditions and dementia.
The lineup will be as follows:
- Katrin Rauen, University of Zurich, Switzerland (Introduction)
- Laurina Waltersperger, Journalist, NZZ am Sonntag, Switzerland (Moderator)
- Charlotte Cordonnier, Vice-President of the European Stroke Organization, University of Lille, France
- Hadine Joffe, Executive Director, Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology & Vice chair for Research, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, USA
- Cassandra Szoeke, Director of the Women’s Healthy Ageing Project (WHAP), Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia
- Valentina Mantua, CNS working party member EMA

With speakers with diverse scientific and research backgrounds, perspectives,
and opinions, the discussion will range from the effect of neglecting women in
clinical trials conducted for specific diseases, lessons we can learn from
failed trials, and what gender stratification in clinical trials can look like.
We look forward to sharing current regulations, difficulties in clinical trial design, a range of diseases affected by this topic, and more with you to understand what specific actions can be proposed today to remedy this issue.
Curious as to what this session builds on? Read about Panel 5 here. As for what comes next? Read about Panel 7 here (that blog will be published Wednesday 29 May 2019).
To see the full program, visit https://www.forum-wbp.com/scientific-program/.
To register to attend the Forum, click here: https://www.forum-wbp.com/register/