AI-Driven Bioterrorism Threat Demands Strong CDC‑WHO Collaboration
Why we still need a functional CDC and cooperation with the WHO. The chances of an AI-enhanced bioterrorism event in the world is not zero.
MRNA Flu Shot Cuts Illness in 50+, Raises Reactogenicity
Prasad wanted high-dose flu vaccine comparator - hence the original Refusal-to-File. FDA then agreed to a split application for over-65's and under, and accepted the revised application.
Briumvi’s Optional Subq Gives It Market‑share Edge
On the $TGTX call the following was casually mentioned in response to a question about subq: "We feel actually very confident in our ability to deliver a quarterly product." It's important to understand that Briumvi will be the only product that...
CD47 Blocks Mouse but Not Human Macrophage Phagocytosis
"the classic “don’t eat me” signal CD47 has minimal impact on human macrophage phagocytosis. By contrast, CD47 strongly suppressed mouse macrophage phagocytosis."
Pfizer Scrubs Trillium Pipeline, CD47 Concept Proves Bust
Sometimes in biotech you can get lucky and win even though you were dead wrong. $PFE just dumped the rest of the Trillium ( $TRIL) pipeline - it all came to naught. I made out nicely when PFE bought TRIL,...
FDA Likely to Fast‑Track KRAS Drug for PR Boost
To try to offset this, I predict the FDA will approve the $RVMD KRAS drug in record time. Not just much quicker than usual. FDA needs a public relations win, and this will be their vehicle.
One Hepatic Failure Case Sparks LLY vs Novo Debate
$LLY $NVO So one case of hepatic failure reported with $LLY Foundayo. To put this in perspective, with the injectables in this class, the reported hepatic incidents have been well under 1 in 100,000. Other oral GLP-1 agonists have also...
Partial Fix to “Circle of Death” Increases Delays
My name for a nearby intersection (at Newton Corner) is "The Circle of Death." One segment of it has been partially tamed recently (at the expense of more delay). https://t.co/UK82ZhaHN4
Open‑source AI Isn’t Fully Transparent; Hidden Trapdoors Persist
Look at the slope as well. And of course who knows if the Chinese models might have trapdoors and the like. Open source here doesn't mean open book. You can't simply inspect the weights and know what the model might...
Modern Meds Are Precise; Older Drugs Are Broad-Spectrum
Modern drugs tend to be very tightly targeted. Older drugs like metformin or Tylenol cut a wider swath.
DAF Donations Yield No Personal Gain; Fidelity, Vanguard Funded OpenAI
This - you are not allowed to derive any tangible benefit (other than a nice thank-you note) from monies donated by a DAF at your direction. Elon himself never gave money to Open AI. The actual donors were Fidelity...
LQDA Repeats UTHR Play, Seizes 157% Market Growth
$LQDA "Meaning Yutrepia captured 157% of the incremental market (took share AND expanded the pie). This to me looks like a re-run of UTHR's old playbook."
Wider Upside in LQDA Options Implies Higher Downside Risk
Looking at $LQDA option chain, with some prodding ChatGPT comes up with the following analysis. Note that the predicted distribution has to square with current stock price, and because there is a wider upside range, that requires a larger probability...
Identify Organ Source From Single‑Cell RNA‑Seq Data
One example they give: “Which human organ is this cell type single-cell RNA-seq dataset derived from?”
Veterinary Diclofenac Poisoning Drives India's Vulture Collapse
The cause of the vulture collapse in India is interesting - a widely-used veterinary NSAID, diclofenac, turns out to be highly toxic to vultures when they eat carcasses of animals that had consumed it. (Diclofenac (AKA Voltaren) is also widely...
NVO’s 4.4% Yield Boosted by Oral Semaglutide Surge
$NVO pays a decent 4.4% dividend and oral semaglutide is surging: "First-time anti-obesity medication (AOM) prescribing increased 21.7% from December 2025 to March 2026, with first-time AOM semaglutide prescribing increasing by more than 50%. AOM semaglutide also showed its largest quarter-over-quarter percentage...
Cheap, Long‑range EVs Poised to End Gasoline Era
This could transform the grid. And the final death-knell for the internal combustion engine. Really cheap electric cars, with decent range coming in a few years.
Supreme Court Case Could Broaden Vascepa Generic Labeling
Vascepa "skinny label" generic case at the Supreme Court. The generic label is only for hypertriglyceridemia, while Vascepa label is much broader. But gets promoted as a generic for Vascepa. Impact might be substantial. https://t.co/xtGWtscXkc
AI Uncovers Injection Flaw; Defenders Must Act First
The bad news is they got in; the good news is that they used an AI to find the security hole (an unsanitized injection) via decompiling the executable and got it quickly fixed. So the vulnerabilities can be found -...
ERAS Compound Directly Infringes RVMD Patent, Developers Beware
Must read for any developers. I posted yesterday that this $ERAS compound facially infringes the $RVMD patent.
Never Click Email Links—Phishers Exploit Gmail Quirks
Phishing emails getting smarter and smarter. Gmail ignores "." in address (and also "+xyz"). Simplest rule is to never click on any link in an email.
NVO Shows Fewer AEs; LLY Wins on Lower COGS
The $NVO drug has fewer AEs (based on comparative discontinuation rates) - only real advantage $LLY has here is much lower COGS (small molecule vs poorly absorbed peptide).
Fenebrutinib Shows Promise, Yet Safety Concerns Loom
Relevant to $TGTX was the Roche $RHHBY fenebrutinib trial results recently announced. Excellent efficacy, but two cases of Hy's Law. Both resolved, but a patient might not be so lucky next time. Hard for me to see this gaining widespread...
TGTX Shows Consistently Low Relapse Rates Across Trials
This very low relapse rate in this $TGTX Phase IV observational trial is consistent with that seen in their 6-year extension study: https://t.co/Shvb8h8VRr
Formulary Rules Favor Costlier Drug, Creating Unnecessary Hassle
So I need to take esomeprazole (Nexium) instead of omeprazole (Prilosec). They are both generic - at @costplusdrugs they cost $5.86 and $6.34 respectively (so the eso version is actually cheaper). But on the Blue Cross Medicare formulary, they only...
Measles Outbreak Could Cost $7 B, Anti‑Vax Shift
Two Bloomberg measles stories - $7 billion in potential costs and some anti-vaxers coming to their senses: https://t.co/oLkHtaLjmY https://t.co/qXAG8FfXIx
Robots Evoke Empathy, But Their “Tears” Were Dry Ice
Hard not to feel some empathy for these humanoid robots. (And that apparently was dry ice used for cooling spilling out at the end).
Stress Boosts Yeast Offspring Fitness With Distant Parents
Massive yeast orgy to investigate mating preferences among different yeast strains, and resulting offspring fitness under different conditions. Under some stress conditions, offspring fitness improves with increased genetic distance between parents. https://t.co/r1SSb7xlq7
Prophylactic IOPIDINE Cuts Post‑Surgery IOP Spikes 91%
$HROW A J-code makes Medicare reimbursement routine. "indicated to control or prevent post-surgical elevations in IOP that occur in patients after argon laser trabeculoplasty, argon laser iridotomy or Nd:YAG posterior capsulotomy" "Prophylactic use of IOPIDINE 1% has been shown to reduce severe...
Fresnel Lens Heats Rocks, Drives Simple Stirling Generator
Pretty amazing if it works - concentrate sunlight with movable fresnel lens to heat rocks to 1000 degrees C and then a simple Stirling engine to generate power. Nothing that couldn’t have been built a century or more ago.
Consumer Pessimism Stems From Perceived Price Pressures, Not Fundamentals
Excellent article attempting to explain why consumer sentiment is so bad (worst ever) while objective prices, wages, employement and economy are all fairly stable: "It's the prices, stupid" https://t.co/bqHARTz5JM
Two‑Month Dosing Likely Beats Monthly in PK Trial
As I commented before, they have Phase 2 PK data and they still took both 2 months and 3 months into Ph 3. The primary endpoint is purely a PK non-inferiority one (AUC through week 24). That means that 2...
People Actually Google Tanker Trucks for Oil Pickups
LoL. Someone googling right now about where to get a tanker truck to pick up their oil ...
Relative, Performance‑linked Awards Beat Stock Options in Downturns
Restricted stock is essentially deferred cash. Options are fine for employees when everything is going up; not so much when there is a downturn. The best compensation device by far is a relative award linked to how well your stock price...
B12‑producing Gut Microbes Linked to Colorectal Cancer Progression
Some interesting nuggets in this study which found microbiome subspecies prevalence associated with colorectal cancer (CRC). And one highly associated subspecies makes Vitamin B12. "Interestingly, higher concentrations of B12 are measured in the serum of CRC patients, and these B12 levels...
Acting CDC Chief Stalled Release of Vaccine Benefit Study
Acting CDC director delayed release of study showing benefit of Covid vaccines - NBC News https://t.co/JsxUVy7Cpj
Amazon's Letter Reveals 1M Robots, Chip Strategy
The $AMZN shareholder letter is a must read. Market grumbles about capex until it figures out what they are building. Incidentally 1 million robots already at work. But their new chip stuff is key. https://t.co/DeULJAN7Dg
LP(a)-Lowering Drugs Poised as Pharma’s Next Breakthrough
The next big thing in pharma over the next few years - drugs to reduce LP(a). https://t.co/2rmLcAFGp1
Brains Overproduce Synapses, Then Prune Through Adolescence
Interestingly, the way human brains develops is to start with too many synapses (a 2 or 3 year-old has about double the number of of an adult) followed by rapid pruning in adolescence, with pruning tapering off in the 20's.
Α‑Eleostearic Acid Acts as Senolytic via Ferroptosis
α-eleostearic acid as a senolytic via ferroptosis. Found in high concentrations in Tung oil (which is toxic) and in small amounts in Bitter Melon oil. https://t.co/FSCix3OZtD
Anthropic Tests Claude Mythos Rigorously; Others May Follow
Anthropic putting Claude Mythos through its paces before releasing it. But will other leading-edge companies do the same?
Claude Gains Full Access to Microsoft Apps—Use Cautiously
Meantime Claude can now interact with all the Microsoft applications. Not that I would let it do so just yet ...
Read John Scalzi's Redshirts—A Must‑Read for Twitter Fans
LoL. If you haven't yet read Redshirts by John Scalzi (who used to post on Twitter but left) you should.
Fake Fees Masked Franchise Losses at Boston Chicken
Boston Chicken redux. Boston Chicken parent lent money to franchisees; that money then did a U-turn and became fee income to itself. So they effectively transmuted their own capital into income, which of course Wall Street loved, until it turned...
Illegalizing Ransom Payments Would Protect Future Victims
We would all have been much better off if we had made paying a ransom to ransomware criminals illegal. Tough for the first few victims, but then better for all.
Public AI Benchmarks Are Useless; Need Private, Impartial Tests
Basically public benchmarks at this point are meaningless - like giving exams with the answer sheets on the back. Need impartial institutions that keep the benchmarks private and release only some sample questions and the scores. And need to keep...
Biotech Edge: XBI Up 0.9% Amid Market Slump
With today's notable strength in biotech, I note that the XBI was actually marginally positive for the month (0.9%) - seems to be the only sector outside energy that was positive for the month. There have been a modest but...
Can You Deduct Getaway Car and Driver Costs?
But can you deduct the cost of the getaway car and driver from the fair value of the stolen property? And is the getaway driver really an independent contractor? So many questions. 😀
Prediction Claims 100% Success for MLTX in Psoriatic Arthritis
Really interesting. One of their predictions is 100% success chance for $MLTX in psoriatic arthritis.
LQDA's Superior Delivery Threatens UTHR's Orphan Edge
The $UTHR news today is great for IPF patients. But it is also very good news for $LQDA given they have better delivery of the same drug. UTHR has 7-year orphan protection in IPF, but that can be overcome by...