MedCity Pivot

Summary In this episode of the Med City Pivot Podcast, host Arundhati Parmar speaks with Lars Petersen about one of the most remarkable corporate transformations in modern business history. Facing a catastrophic collapse of its core film business in the mid-2000s due to the rise of digital photography, Fujifilm executed a bold and strategic pivot into healthcare and life sciences. The company diversified aggressively, leveraging its deep expertise in materials science, imaging, and innovation to build a thriving biotechnology and medical technology ecosystem. Today, Fujifilm operates as a global Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), partnering with leading pharmaceutical companies and startups alike. The conversation explores how strategic investment, diversification, long-term thinking, and innovation—including AI—enabled Fujifilm not just to survive, but to lead in a completely new industry. Links & Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com  https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/ Keywords Fujifilm Pivot Healthcare CDMO Biotechnology Biologics digital transformation business strategy Innovation AI in healthcare Pharma Manufacturing monoclonal antibodies gene therapy cell therapy Diversification corporate strategy MedTech Episode Highlights  00:00–00:23 – Introduction to the concept of "pivot" and Fujifilm's survival story 00:00–00:47 – The collapse of the film industry and existential crisis 00:00–01:15 – Fujifilm's transformation into a healthcare company 00:02:39–00:03:28 – 2006: the pivotal year and 60% revenue loss 00:03:28–00:03:45 – Strategic decision to diversify long-term 00:04:22–00:05:08 – Why Fujifilm succeeded while competitors failed 00:05:35–00:06:26 – Key investments and acquisitions (including Biogen assets) 00:06:52–00:07:30 – Why healthcare is a stable, long-term growth industry 00:07:53–00:08:29 – Expansion into medical devices and imaging technologies 00:09:42–00:10:34 – Core therapeutic focus: biologics, gene therapy, cell therapy 00:10:49–00:11:22 – Serving both startups and global pharma giants 00:12:39–00:13:40 – Competitive positioning vs. Samsung Biologics & Lonza 00:15:08–00:15:44 – "Partners for life" philosophy and long-term trust 00:17:52–00:18:49 – AI integration across manufacturing ecosystems 00:18:54–00:19:42 – Final takeaway: building shared ecosystems for the future of medicine

EPISODE SUMMARY In this episode, Arundhati Parmar interviews Shalin Shah, CEO of Marius Pharmaceuticals, about Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) and the long-standing regulatory classification that places testosterone as a Schedule III controlled substance. Shah explains that testosterone was scheduled in 1990 following Olympic doping scandals — despite opposition at the time from the FDA, DEA, and the American Medical Association. More than 30 years later, he argues that the regulatory framework no longer reflects current clinical evidence and may be doing more harm than good. The conversation explores: The scientific evidence surrounding cardiovascular and prostate safety The differences between injectable and oral testosterone therapies The stigma and logistical barriers created by controlled substance status How GLP-1 drugs intersect with hormone health and muscle preservation The possibility of expanding testosterone therapy access to women Whether the current regulatory environment may revisit testosterone scheduling At its core, this episode examines whether testosterone is being regulated based on outdated controversy rather than modern clinical science — and what that means for patients navigating care today. Episode Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com  https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/ KEYWORDS Testosterone Replacement Therapy TRT regulation Schedule III classification Controlled substances Hormone therapy stigma Men's health Women's hormone therapy TRAVERSE study Cardiovascular risk Prostate cancer risk Oral testosterone Injectable testosterone Hematocrit levels GLP-1 muscle loss Hypogonadism FDA regulation Healthcare policy Hormone optimization   EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS 00:00–01:40 - Why testosterone became a Schedule III controlled substance in 1990 01:40–02:30 - Political backlash after Olympic doping scandals 02:30–03:56 - Testosterone as the only controlled hormone 03:56–04:58 - The physiologic role of testosterone across multiple organ systems 04:58–06:19 - Cardiovascular and prostate cancer risk: What the TRAVERSE study showed 06:19–07:04 - Physiologic vs. supraphysiologic dosing 07:04–08:49 - How controlled status creates stigma and access barriers 08:49–10:10 - Provider tracking, pharmacy hurdles, and patient friction 10:10–11:48 - Would deregulation increase abuse or doping? 11:48–13:20 - GLP-1 drugs, rapid weight loss, and muscle preservation 13:20–15:08 - Testosterone in women: The overlooked half of the population 15:08–16:22 - Injectable vs oral TRT: Mimicking natural diurnal rhythms 16:22–17:40 - Hematocrit elevation differences between injections and oral therapy 17:40–19:07 - Side effect profiles and hormone signaling differences 19:07–20:32 - Go-to-market strategy: Cash pay vs insurance coverage 20:32–21:24 - Stigma among payers and barriers to reimbursement 21:24–22:43 - Expanding label indications and idiopathic hypogonadism 22:43–22:22 - Could the current administration reconsider testosterone scheduling?  

Summary  Tune into MedCity Pivot Podcast with host Arundhati Parmar as three healthcare tech leaders—Serge Perras, Ton Roelandse, and Bertil Chappuis—decode AI's true potential in healthcare. Explore its role in enhancing efficiency and busting myths about AI supremacy.   Episode Highlights 00:00:19 - The high bar for AI safety in healthcare. 00:01:29 - AI's current hype and exaggerated promises. 00:03:57 - Misconceptions about AI replacing healthcare roles. 00:05:51 - Meaningful AI use cases: Prior authorization automation. 00:06:52 - AI in triage and its capacity enhancements. 00:08:10 - AI's role in modernizing healthcare infrastructure. 00:10:46 - Clarifying AI vs. RPA in tech solutions. 00:13:30 - Importance of governance and guardrails in AI. 00:16:38 - Humanizing healthcare through AI. 00:18:27 - AI's potential and challenges in medical coding. 00:21:31 - AI's impact on job roles and productivity boosts. 00:24:25 - Use of AI in personal life for everyday tasks.   Episode Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com  https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/   Keywords Artificial Intelligence   Healthcare Innovation   AI Applications   Healthcare Safety   Technology Hype   Serge Perras   Abarca Health   Ton Roelandse   Trexin Consulting   Bertil Chappuis   Xtillion   Machine Learning   Generative Media   Super Agents   Risk and Reliability   Clinical Prediction Models   Automation Bias   Prior Authorization Process   Agentic Systems   Healthcare Infrastructure   Modernization   Robotic Process Automation (RPA)   Data Quality   Governance and Guardrails   Human vs AI Roles   Healthcare Workforce Transition   AI Augmentation   Patient Care   Medical Coding   Electronic Health Records (EHR)   AI Ethics   Data Fragmentation   AI Engineering   Healthcare Economics   AI's Net New Jobs   AI Sounding Board  

During the episode, MedCity News Associate Editor Katie Adams interviews Dr. Hamad Husainy, chief medical officer at PointClickCare, and Dr. Barbara Bond, a physician at Sutter Health, about how AI can help improve patient outcomes in the emergency department.   Episode Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com  https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/   Review, Subscribe and Share If you like what you hear please leave a review by clicking here   Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so you get the latest episodes. Click here to subscribe with Apple Podcasts  Click here to subscribe with Spotify Click here to subscribe with Podbean Click here to  

I interviewed Adriana Ramirez and Matt Gibbs, and we spoke about how a new approach to pharmacy benefits management.   Episode Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com  https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/ Connect with Adriana Ramirez and Matt Gibbs hans.amalia@abarcahealth.com  matt.gibbs@lark.com    Review, Subscribe and Share If you like what you hear please leave a review by clicking here   Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so you get the latest episodes. Click here to subscribe with Apple Podcasts  Click here to subscribe with Spotify Click here to subscribe with Podbean Click here to subscribe with RSS

I am interviewing Dr. Iftach Dolev, co-founder and CEO of QuantalX a neurodiagnostics company that has just received FDA clearance for its device.   Episode Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com  https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/ Connect with Dr. Iftach Dolev iftach@quantalx.com    Review, Subscribe and Share If you like what you hear please leave a review by clicking here   Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so you get the latest episodes. Click here to subscribe with Apple Podcasts  Click here to subscribe with Spotify Click here to subscribe with Podbean Click here to subscribe with RSS

This episode was sponsored by Quantum Health. Katie Adams, associate editor at MedCity News, interviewed Shannon Skaggs, chief AI officer at Quantum Health, about how AI is reshaping the care navigation and benefits guidance world.   Episode Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com  https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/ Connect with Shannon Skaggs https://quantum-health.com/shannon-skaggs/  https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonskaggs/?skipRedirect=true    Review, Subscribe and Share If you like what you hear please leave a review by clicking here   Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so you get the latest episodes. Click here to subscribe with Apple Podcasts  Click here to subscribe with Spotify Click here to subscribe with Podbean Click here to subscribe with RSS

I interviewed Dr. Rowland Illing, Chief Medical Officer of AWS (Amazon Web Services) about its Health Data Lake and how those data are being powered into innovations transforming healthcare. Episode Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com    https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/ Connect with Rowland Illing danielle.rowe@longjump.agency  Review, Subscribe and Share If you like what you hear please leave a review by clicking here   Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so you get the latest episodes. Click here to subscribe with Apple Podcasts  Click here to subscribe with Spotify Click here to subscribe with Podbean Click here to subscribe with RSS

I interviewed two healthcare executives and we talked about the importance of price transparency in pharmacy benefits management to make life easier for patients taking prescription medications and for providers who use e-prescribing.   Episode Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com    https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/ Connect with Javier Gonzalez https://www.linkedin.com/in/jgonzalezpharmd/  Connect with Otto Sipe https://www.linkedin.com/in/ottosipe/  Review, Subscribe and Share If you like what you hear please leave a review by clicking here   Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so you get the latest episodes. Click here to subscribe with Apple Podcasts  Click here to subscribe with Spotify Click here to subscribe with Podbean Click here to subscribe with RSS  

I interviewed Jeremy Delinsky, CEO of Smarter Technologies, about AI-driven clinical documentation improvement and RCM revenue cycle management.   Episode Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com  https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/   Review, Subscribe and Share If you like what you hear please leave a review by clicking here   Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so you get the latest episodes. Click here to subscribe with Apple Podcasts  Click here to subscribe with Spotify Click here to subscribe with Podbean Click here to subscribe with RSS

This is an episode sponsored by Zelis, in which Katie Adams (assistant editor, MedCity News) interviews Yusuf Qasim (president of payments optimization, Zelis). He speaks about how a better healthcare payment experience can lead to better payer-provider relationships, as well as how his company's tech platform assists both of these players.   Episode Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com  https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/   Review, Subscribe and Share If you like what you hear please leave a review by clicking here   Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so you get the latest episodes. Click here to subscribe with Apple Podcasts  Click here to subscribe with Spotify Click here to subscribe with Podbean Click here to subscribe with RSS  

I interviewed Aimee Garza about her startup, CoraVie Medical. I also interviewed Dr. Michael Bloch, who is one of the startup's clinical partners.   Episode Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com  https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/   Review, Subscribe and Share If you like what you hear please leave a review by clicking here   Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so you get the latest episodes. Click here to subscribe with Apple Podcasts  Click here to subscribe with Spotify Click here to subscribe with Podbean

I interviewed Dr. Roxana Dronca and Dr. Jeremy Jones who are both oncologists and are leads of Mayo Clinic's Cancer Care Beyond Walls program. Dr. Dronca had the idea of trying to find a way to deliver care of cancer patients in their home and Dr. Jones is responsible for bringing this model to other sites and even partner hospitals.   Episode Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com  https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/   Review, Subscribe and Share If you like what you hear please leave a review by clicking here   Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so you get the latest episodes. Click here to subscribe with Apple Podcasts  Click here to subscribe with Spotify Click here to subscribe with Podbean Click here to subscribe with RSS  

I interviewed James Lu, CEO of Helix, about precision medicine and whether it has been successful in terms of practical applications that improve patients' lives.   Episode Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com  https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/ Connect with James Lu https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-lu-m-d-ph-d-8450334/    Review, Subscribe and Share If you like what you hear please leave a review by clicking here   Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so you get the latest episodes. Click here to subscribe with Apple Podcasts  Click here to subscribe with Spotify Click here to subscribe with Podbean Click here to subscribe with RSS  

This is a sponsored podcast interview with Megan Zakrewsky, vice president of product at Veradigm. We talked about how the company is using tech to drive behavior change among providers, payers and patients.   Episode Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com  https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/ Connect with Megan Zakrewsky  https://veradigm.com/about-veradigm/experts/megan-zakrewsky/    Review, Subscribe and Share If you like what you hear please leave a review by clicking here   Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so you get the latest episodes. Click here to subscribe with Apple Podcasts  Click here to subscribe with Spotify Click here to subscribe with Podbean Click here to subscribe with RSS  

I interviewed the CEO of Immuneering and talked with him about how traditional approaches toward treating certain cancers may be missing the mark in terms of not only survival but also quality of life. Episode Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/ Connect with Ben Zeskind https://www.linkedin.com/in/bzeskind   Review, Subscribe and Share If you like what you hear please leave a review by clicking here Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so you get the latest episodes. Click here to subscribe with Apple Podcasts Click here to subscribe with Spotify Click here to subscribe with Podbean Click here to subscribe with RSS

I spoke with Bryan Marlatt, Chief Regional Officer at CyXcel, a business advisory focusing on cybersecurity. Episode Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/   Review, Subscribe and Share If you like what you hear please leave a review by clicking here Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so you get the latest episodes. Click here to subscribe with Apple Podcasts Click here to subscribe with Spotify Click here to subscribe with Podbean Click here to subscribe with RSS

I interviewed David Bardan, VP of Healthcare at Clear, who explained how the company can help health systems boost their cybersecurity standards. Episode Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/ Review, Subscribe and Share If you like what you hear please leave a review by clicking here Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so you get the latest episodes. Click here to subscribe with Apple Podcasts Click here to subscribe with Spotify Click here to subscribe with Podbean Click here to subscribe with RSS

This episode focuses on healthcare cybersecurity and a new set of standards established by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). MedCity News Assistant Editor Katie Adams interviewed Florence Hudson, who serves as chair of the IEEE working group that created this new framework. The pair discussed the new framework, as well as talked about the state of healthcare cybersecurity and explored what resource-strapped organizations can do to comply with new cybersecurity protocols.   Episode Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/ Connect with Florence Hudson https://www.linkedin.com/in/florencehudson/   Review, Subscribe and Share If you like what you hear please leave a review by clicking here Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so you get the latest episodes. Click here to subscribe with Apple Podcasts Click here to subscribe with Spotify Click here to subscribe with Podbean Click here to subscribe with RSS

Heather Cox, President of Insights & Empowerment at Zelis, talked about the company's care coordination tools with MedCity News Reporter Katie Adams. She also shared how the company works with health plans to communicate with members to help them make proactive healthcare decisions, such as getting a flu shot or what to do in acute care situations, such as when they've had a bicycle accident. Episode Resources Connect with Arundhati Parmar aparmar@medcitynews.com https://twitter.com/aparmarbb?lang=en https://medcitynews.com/ Connect with Heather Cox https://www.zelis.com/company/leadership/heather-cox/     Review, Subscribe and Share If you like what you hear please leave a review by clicking here Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so you get the latest episodes. Click here to subscribe with Apple Podcasts Click here to subscribe with Spotify Click here to subscribe with Podbean Click here to subscribe with RSS