Conference Report: American Urological Association Annual Meeting

We attended the 2019 American Urological Association Annual Meeting in Chicago, an exciting opportunity to see the latest in clinical research and innovative technologies across female pelvic medicine, renal, prostate and bladder cancers and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), among many other indications. The bustling exhibit hall floor featured new products and techniques ranging from robotics to minimally invasive surgical devices to novel imaging solutions, including at predictably large and well-trafficked booths from Intuitive Surgical, Teleflex and Boston Scientific.

Big news items from industry included initial reports on Blue Earth Diagnostics’ new, PSMA-based radiotracer for imaging prostate cancer, which was presented in both oral and poster sessions; Axonics’ presentation of pivotal data from their ARTISAN-SNM study of the Sacral Neuromodulation (“SNM”) devices for the treatment of urinary and bowel dysfunction, which they plan to submit for FDA market authorization; PROCEPT BioRobotics announced the presentation of data on their Aquablation treatment for BPH from multiple studies as well as the addition of Aquablation to the AUA guidelines as a standard-of-care option for the treatment of BPH; and Teleflex announced the presentation of data for their UroLift BPH treatment.

Topics that came up multiple times in clinical sessions included molecular targeting and other personalization strategies for monitoring disease; better stratifying subtypes of disease based on molecular factors and other clinical features (e.g., Dr. Barbieri presented data on SPOP mutations in prostate cancer, which are associated with less-aggressive cancers but highly elevated PSA levels, whereas we previously understood high PSA to correlate to the most aggressive cancers); and the role of novel imaging tracers and other advanced imaging techniques in prostate disease. While we focused more on the device-related programming, hot topics in drug management included novel antibiotic strategies for UTIs and other conditions and drug sequencing and combination recommendations for overactive bladder disorders.

Urology has long been a high-growth market in medical technology, and we came away from this educational and fun trip to the Windy City even more convinced that the segment is in the midst of transforming patient care. We’re looking forward to attending this event again in 2020.