My friend is named Hellen - Founders’ Stories
I got to know Hellen on an international dating platform. She shared her romantic love story about coming to the United States on a tourist visa and eventually finding a wonderful husband. At the time, Hellen was approaching her fifties, successful in her career, and possessed a courageous heart willing to venture to a foreign land for love. Initially, our friends were skeptical of this cross-border marriage without a solid foundation, but their doubts were dispelled as the years passed. Every time we visited their home, we could witness Rick, her husband, lavishing her with care, making us marvel at how love could truly emerge from the most improbable of circumstances.
Rick, a successful businessman on the East Coast of the United States, had six branches spanning from north to south along the coast. In his younger days, he even had a brief relationship with a Hollywood star. His flourishing career led him to instantly fall in love with Hellen, who hailed from China. The two of them fell head over heels shortly after their first encounter. Every summer, they invited our group of friends to their vacation villa in Miami. We not only had the privilege of sailing on their yacht and private plane but also savored Rick's meticulously prepared American barbecues. Two years ago, on Rick's yacht, as he cruised while puffing on a cigar, he suddenly announced that he had just sold his company for tens of millions and planned to sell their current house as well. Then, he and Hellen would retire and travel the world together. They even had a yacht trip planned for the fall on the inland rivers of Europe. That summer, everything seemed idyllic, and Hellen and Rick's life was bathed in light, their love remained as fresh as ever. We, the younger generation, looked up to them as role models, aspiring to have harmonious families, where the couple worked together to build a beautiful life.
However, all the beauty was shattered one fateful autumn, taking us completely by surprise. We had planned to throw them a farewell party before they departed for Europe, but we received the shocking news that Rick had started having frequent nosebleeds accompanied by intense pain. After medical examinations, he was diagnosed with skin cancer. Regardless of how strong a person may be or how advanced technology has become, people are deeply affected when cancer enters the picture. Consequently, Rick and Hellen were forced to cancel their European journey and embarked on a grueling battle against cancer. Initially, Rick was optimistic as he underwent surgeries and treatments, assuring us that he would be fine within six months. He planned to restart their world tour the following spring. However, as the tumor on his nose continued to recur, and he underwent four surgeries in six months with no improvement, resorting to opioids for pain relief, Rick's spirit crumbled, and he declined visits from friends. Over the next year, the couple's life became a monotonous cycle of hospital visits, surgeries, medication, and check-ups. While the United States had mature treatment options for skin cancer, none of the standard treatments worked for Rick. The cancer cells were spreading rapidly. In the second autumn, the hospital issued a terminal notice, giving Rick a life expectancy of only 6 to 12 months. Everything happened so suddenly, catching us completely off guard. Despite Rick's wealth, it was powerless to stop the impending tragedy. During this time, Hellen had shed countless tears and repeatedly told me over the phone about Rick's goodness and why fate was subjecting him to such torment. Rick had not enjoyed a good meal or a restful night's sleep since his cancer diagnosis. He had fought bravely against cancer and was now told he had less than a year to live. She was willing to exchange her own life for the chance to see Rick through this difficult time if only given the opportunity.
Three months after receiving the terminal notice, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope. Rick's lead physician informed him that a biopharmaceutical company in Boston was developing a new therapy for skin cancer, which had shown promising results in Phase II clinical trials and was currently recruiting patients for Phase III trials. If Rick was interested, he could attempt to participate in the Phase III clinical trial. However, since their hospital had no direct relationship with the pharmaceutical company, Rick would have to make contact himself. I was on a business trip in China when I received Hellen's call. It was three in the morning, but I couldn't sleep from excitement, feeling genuinely happy for the couple. However, this development also led to a series of questions: What exactly was this clinical trial? How could Rick participate in it? What was the extent of its effectiveness, and what were the risks? How could they access information about the trial? These questions were numerous.
Having worked with clinical data in the Boston biopharmaceutical industry for years, I felt elated that my friends might have a lifeline. Yet, I also recognized the helplessness of patients upon receiving such a lifeline and the difficulty of accessing information about clinical trials. There was a significant gap between pharmaceutical companies and patients, defined by high professional knowledge requirements, strict patient data regulation, and the challenging process of accessing clinical trial information. To provide an intuitive example, where did the $350,000 allocated for recruiting a patient for a clinical trial go? Firstly, every clinical drug has different and detailed patient recruitment criteria. Additionally, these criteria required a plethora of specific data. Since patient data was subject to strict regulation, pharmaceutical companies couldn't directly access this data. Therefore, every query from the pharmaceutical company to the hospital, like sending a mail with a question, incurred a $50 manual query fee from the hospital. Thus, the cost of recruiting a patient for $350,000 was mostly spent on the endless communication between the pharmaceutical company and the hospital to confirm patient information. Both the pharmaceutical company and the doctors were frustrated, as doctors, who should be saving lives with their professional knowledge, were spending a significant amount of time on data queries. Moreover, eligible patients had no way to participate in clinical trials. Despite the strong regulation of patient data, patients still have the right to share their data for evaluation by professionals to determine their eligibility for clinical trials. On October 1, 2021, I called my friend Rui Li in Silicon Valley.
"Why can't we create a platform for patients, providing them with information on clinical trials, allowing them to assess whether their own case data meets the entry criteria for pharmaceutical company clinical trials?"
Rui Li, whom I had known for almost a decade since we both studied at Yale, was a role model in my life. Without exaggeration, I had never seen him engage in entertainment, except for discussing work-related matters or sharing a delicious meal and some wine. I had never met someone from Tsinghua University, a Beijingnese who was so humble, uninterested in wealth, and possessed a touch of chivalry and a sense of national pride. One time, when we were a bit tipsy and talked about dreams, Rui Li said his ultimate life goal was to "make a name in history," to do something meaningful and leave his mark in this world. Now, back to the call, Rui Li expressed deep sympathy for Rick's situation and developed a strong interest in our joint project to create a platform. In October 2021, we established HillResearch.AI, named after Hillhouse Avenue in Yale's campus, where we had first met.
In our two years of entrepreneurship, we have not only helped many cancer patients with clinical trial information searches but also accumulated data shared voluntarily by a million cancer patients on our platform to benefit more cancer patients. While our platform's impact may seem small in comparison to the 40 million new cancer patients in China and the 20 million new patients in the United States each year, we are making continuous efforts.
"A single brick does not make a palace, but the accumulation of many bricks will eventually lead to a grand skyscraper."
by Louise Liu on October 20, 2023, in Boston.