Loon Shots, Crazy Ideas, Culture And Creation

Bakal talks about his book, "Loon Shots" and the evolution of crazy ideas in high tech fields. The ideas set forth in this first section of the podcast are about the major technological advances that make an industry possible and how so often they are delayed or blatantly denied due to lack of buy in from others. Unlike JFK's moonshot to go the moon in a decade the rocket scientist Goddard proposing space travel via was considered a loon shot and not taken seriously until the launch of Sputnik. 

Bakal discusses that the people who succeed most in the technology business are not those who focus heavily on product. Using the examples of IBM and PanAm he talks about how they made incredible leaps in technology but failed to capitalize on the subtle details of the market that didn't require years of R&D. 

Later in the show the host, Moira Gunn, talks with Nawal Ouzren about curing sudden hearing loss and its' affects on 200,000 people. The French biotech company Sensorion produces drugs and is researching a treatment for this disease. Their process is stop the death of hair cells in the ear. They have 2 drugs one for severe vertigo and one for hearing loss as well. Their most advanced drug is in phase 2b and in global trial modulates the H4 receptors in the inner ear and relieves symptoms while not sedating the patient. Their sudden hearing loss drug is meant to impair the protein, calcineurin, that induces the death of the hair cells. So far, Sensorion is pushing for their drug to be used in children with specific cancers; the treatment for which can induce deafness.