Naveen Pemmaraju, MD, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, emphasizes having a patient-centered focus when developing novel therapies due to the new toxicities that novel agents bring. It is essential to consider the toxicity of the novel agent itself, the overlapping toxicities which arise in combination therapy, and the long-term and off-target effects of the novel agents. Dr Pemmaraju highlights the utility of the ‘myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) symptom burden questionnaire’ when developing novel agents. This interview took place at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA.