The Next Era of Medicine [STAT Summit 2026 Review #08]

Report 08. The Next Era of Medicine

Part I. English Version

1. Event / Date & Time

Event: The Next Era of Medicine | Sponsored by Waters Corporation

Conference: STAT Summit 2026

Date & Time: October 14, 2026 | 11:55 AM EDT

2. Participants

Speakers

- Dan Rush, Ph.D. — Senior Vice President, Global Research and Strategy, Waters Corporation

Moderator

- Rick Berke — Co-Founder and Executive Editor, STAT

3. Summary

Connected Science: Waters described integrating chemistry, biology, instruments and informatics to address analytical challenges in modern medicine.

Clinical Diagnostics: Improving sepsis diagnostics illustrated how faster, integrated laboratory workflows may support more timely treatment decisions.

Research Collaboration: Biologics characterization and immune profiling require interdisciplinary tools and partnership rather than isolated instrumentation.

4. Main Discussion

Analytical Infrastructure Underlying Drug Development

Waters executive Dan Rush described the company’s role in separation science, chromatography, chemistry, analytical instruments and software used across pharmaceutical and laboratory development. He estimated that roughly 80% of medicines filed with regulators use the company’s Empower chromatography data system, presenting this as a company-level estimate. He also cited work supporting GLP-1 products and the Merck–Moderna research program.

Rush contrasted his experience using high-performance liquid chromatography as a student with present-day laboratories in which software and informatics are integral to instrument operation. He argued that the next major gains may come less from isolated improvements to instruments and more from combining their outputs into interpretable research systems. This “connected science” concept links analysis, digital infrastructure and development decisions.

The discussion positioned laboratory data quality as central to drug development: advanced therapeutics require characterization, comparability and information that scientists and regulators can use consistently. Technology suppliers contribute through the instruments and software that make such information possible, even when their brands are not visible to patients.

Biologics Characterization and Integrated Platforms

Rush characterized biologics as substantially more complex to analyze than small molecules. Their structural and functional properties can require different methods across chemistry and biology, so no single instrument is sufficient to create a complete picture. He described combining Waters’ traditional chemistry strengths with biology-focused technologies to improve this capability.

A major corporate transaction involving parts of Becton Dickinson was cited as an effort to add biological measurement tools to Waters’ existing portfolio. Rush framed it as a means to integrate complementary capabilities rather than simply grow the company’s product catalog. The strategic goal is more complete assessment of biological therapies and better connectivity among different data streams.

He argued that AI can assist analysis once data are collected coherently, but algorithms are only one part of the system. Instrument integration, high-quality samples, standardized workflows and scientists from different specialties remain necessary. The discussion therefore emphasized combining expertise in analytical chemistry, molecular biology, software and data science.

Sepsis as a Time-Critical Diagnostic Challenge

Sepsis was discussed as an example of a condition in which analytical speed has immediate clinical consequences. Rush cited approximately 350,000 annual sepsis deaths in the United States and characterized mortality risk among hospitalized patients as substantial. These numbers were presented in the interview as background estimates, not independently verified epidemiological figures.

He described the diagnostic challenge as determining which organism is causing severe infection and which antimicrobial is appropriate. The workflow may involve cultivation, mass spectrometry and other complementary analytical methods. Rush reported a recent Waters-related improvement of roughly 15% in processing time, from about 18 hours to 15 hours. He further characterized each hour of delay as consequential for prognosis.

The example showed how the combination of tools, laboratory processes and decision support can matter as much as any single assay. It also underscored that incremental improvements can have clinical relevance in time-sensitive settings even while much faster diagnostics remain an ongoing development objective.

Collaborations for Immune Profiling and Future Diagnostics

Rush discussed collaboration in immune-system characterization, describing work with an immunoscience partner using flow cytometry and other instruments to study large collections of biological samples. The goal is to capture a richer picture of immune function and make that information available for analysis, including emerging AI methods.

He emphasized that ambitious problems such as biologics analysis or sepsis cannot be solved by one company acting alone. Partnerships can combine instruments, specimen access, computational methods and clinical understanding, allowing questions to be addressed across organizational boundaries. The company’s research and acquisition strategy was presented as a means to assemble these complementary resources.

The session concluded with a cautiously optimistic outlook: connected data and multidisciplinary tools may expand research capability, but many applications are still early in development. Rush invited further industry collaboration while acknowledging that new diagnostic workflows require validation and real-world deployment before their benefits can be established.

5. Insights

Integrated Measurement: Modern biopharmaceutical R&D and diagnostics increasingly depend on interoperable chemistry, biology, instrument and informatics platforms.

Implications for South Korea: Korean research organizations could explore multidisciplinary assay platforms and shared analytical standards for biologics and time-critical diagnostics.

Research Infrastructure Partnerships: Industry–clinical partnerships that link instruments, datasets and expertise may support more scalable and reliable translational research.

Report 08. The Next Era of Medicine_eng.pdf

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