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In Episode 247 of Anecdotally Speaking, discover how moments of desperation can spark remarkable change and what businesses can learn from one man’s race against time.

In this episode, Mark shares the powerful story of Dr David Fajgenbaum, a medical student who, while battling a rare and deadly disease, turned desperation into determination.

Faced with the failure of conventional treatments, David searched for a new approach, not by creating a new drug, but by repurposing an old one.

This episode explores the innovation of applying existing resources in new ways, the value of specificity in storytelling, and the power of dialogue to bring stories to life.

Shawn and Mark unpack how this story can be a rich resource for themes such as cross-functional collaboration, innovation under constraints, and storytelling techniques for business.

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Tags: Innovation, Collaboration, Health, Repurpose, Storytelling

This story starts at 4:41

In May 2012, David Fajgenbaum, a third-year medical student, was on the brink of death for the fifth time. He suffered from Castleman disease, a rare and devastating condition that causes the immune system to attack vital organs. With his kidneys, liver, bone marrow, and lungs shutting down, he was admitted to a hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas, where his family gathered to say goodbye. The only available drug had stopped working, and doctors had run out of options. As he lay unconscious, his sister whispered, “One more breath… just one more.” That moment helped him cling to life.

Against the odds, David began to recover. He promised his family that whatever time he had left, whether a week or a year, he would dedicate to finding a treatment. With no time to develop a new drug, he turned his attention to repurposing existing ones. Once out of hospital, he worked tirelessly in the lab, testing compounds late into the night. Eventually, he found a promising drug, already approved for another condition, and tested it on himself. It worked.

Thirteen years later, David remains alive. He went on to found Every Cure, a not-for-profit organisation that uses AI to find new applications for existing drugs. Their work has already identified numerous treatments, including how Viagra can help children with a rare lung condition that restricts blood flow.