Molecule‑Led Framework Prioritizes Coordination Over Technology
For years, we’ve talked about a trillion-dollar bioeconomy. The harder question has always been where to start. This new piece on the AB4S Molecule Manifesto from @LOrealGroupe, @Lallemande, @EITFood , @BASF, @Evonik, and @cradlebio offers one of the most compelling answers I’ve seen. Four molecule families. A clear prioritization framework. And a strong argument that the barrier is no longer technology, but coordination. What stands out is the shift from platform-first thinking to molecule-led deployment. Start with demand. Align infrastructure. Then scale. This is exactly the kind of conversation we need heading into SynBioBeta 2026. Worth a read if you’re building, investing, or thinking about where biotech goes next. https://t.co/DXZc7DazQl
New Therapeutic Triad Accelerates Huntington's Disease Breakthroughs
“Huntington’s Disease and The Triad of Therapeutic Conviction”. Debut blog from Eric Green, CEO of Trace Neuro, explaining why and how advances are happening in HD. Genetics, cellular understanding, and enabling modalities. https://t.co/pAr9EQs5gJ
R3 Bio Engineers Whole Organs, Featured in WIRED
This is so awesome. @JohnSchloendorn and Alice Gilman at R3 Bio talk through what they’re doing at R3 Bio: building something that's never existed before. They're designing genetically engineered whole organ systems. See them featured in WIRED. @WIRED full story here: https://t.co/8z5iGXR0uK
White House Drug Pricing Bill Details Revealed, Previewed by Insiders
Early details of what's in the White House's drug pricing bill text — and who's getting a sneak peek of it https://t.co/Yt8usm4yOa
GLP-1 Drugs: Brain‑targeted Cure for Obesity and Addictions
In 1992, scientists discovered a chemical in Gila monster venom that mimicked GLP-1, the hormone your gut releases to signal fullness. By tinkering with its structure, pharma companies extended its duration from two hours (the Gila monster version) to one...
AstraZeneca's Lung Drug Scores Unexpected COPD Trial Win
AstraZeneca lung drug gets ‘surprise’ win in COPD trials https://t.co/QuRlOQtzdT @ByJonGardner $AZN $RGN $SNY $RHHBY
AI Can Now Design Cancer Vaccines—Game‑changing Breakthrough
We can vibe-code cancer vaccines, and you think no one is going to be able to vibe-code a doomsday virus?
Novartis Acquires Excellergy to Secure Xolair Successor
Novartis targets Xolair successor in buyout of startup Excellergy https://t.co/eGYQ2AxTd5 by @gwendolynawu $NVS $RHHBY #startups #biotech
Aging Research Gains Momentum: Collaboration Fuels Therapeutic Breakthroughs
Now at 1M+ views. What struck me most here wasn’t the views. It was the engagement. People are ready to engage seriously with aging biology. Now the opportunity is to turn that energy into stronger collaboration, better translational science, and...
In‑vivo CAR‑T Achieves 4/5 MRD‑Negative Remissions
Outstanding piece here from @leilei_wuu on AstraZeneca's in vivo CAR-T for multiple myeloma. There's data on 5 patients, which is pretty lean, but 4 come out MRD negative in two months, which is extraordinary. We're going to see a lot...
Tech Experts Overestimate Their Grasp of Cancer Biology
As someone who has covered cancer drug development for 25 years, one of the few things I am sure of is that the odds of technology folks thinking they understand biology are much higher than the odds they actually do.
FDA Commissioner Seeks Private Partnerships for Collaboration and Regulation
Couple interesting meetings for FDA Commissioner Makary: met with Arnold Ventures on Mar. 3 about "collaboration opportunities" https://t.co/vEyhDu5xaW and with $MNPR on "establishing a regulatory mechanism" on Mar. 13 https://t.co/DHaD6IlvCS
Pharma Rushes Into Psychedelics, M&A Activity Surges
Pharma’s appetite for psychedelic therapies is rapidly accelerating, with M&A interest heating up across the sector.
Decade-Long Quest to Break Blood-Brain Barrier Highlights Biotech Challenges
When we seeded Denali the idea was to break the curse of the blood/brain barrier. It took a decade and tons of faith and money. Biotech is hard. Curing diseases is hard. This is a good summary. ...
Asia Emerges as Testbed for Healthcare Innovation
It was a pleasure to participate in the Investment and Innovation Pathways to a Healthy Asia session at the Global Investors’ Symposium in Hong Kong. A timely discussion on where durable value is being created in healthcare across Asia, from prevention...
AI Empowers Chemists, Accelerating Novel Drug Discovery
The life of a chemist is about to change dramatically as we move away from tedious trial-and-error and deeper into the comfort of the prompt window. We don't need fewer medicinal chemists; we need more high-novelty drugs on the market...
Alpha‑Lipoic Acid Shows Promise for Ischemic Heart Failure
Efficacy of Alpha-Lipoic Acid in Patients With Ischemic Heart Failure: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study | @JACCJournals https://t.co/nW9SbwEDfy https://t.co/qsemjmMb9k
LLMs Enable DIY mRNA Vaccine for Pets
The coolest meeting I had this week with was Paul, who used ChatGPT and other LLMs to create an mRNA vaccine protocol to save his dog Rosie. It is amazing story. "The chat bots empowered me as an individual to act...
GLP‑1 Therapies Show Promising Cardiovascular Benefits
GLP-1 and the cardiovascular system "This Review summarizes the effects of GLP-1 and GLP-1RAs in the CV system..." https://t.co/Sy7Jjb96WD https://t.co/v3T01fIcOs
AI-Designed mRNA Vaccine Targets Cancer Precisely
Now imagine every cancer patient had access to this technology (they should) "A specifically designed mRNA vaccine - a precision-guided weapon to strike the cancer, developed with a pipeline designed by ChatGPT o1, implemented for candidate development by Gemini Pro 2,...
Lancet Calls for Wider Access to GLP‑1 Drugs
This week's @TheLancet cover and editorial about getting GLP-1 drugs available for the people who need them the most https://t.co/BU9NZdmdGo https://t.co/TWOIKvfuth
MRD‑Negative Patients Can Stop Myeloma Maintenance Therapy
Discontinuation of maintenance therapy in multiple myeloma guided by multimodal measurable residual disease negativity (MRD2STOP) - @bdermanmd et al. @ajjakubowiak #ASCO24 Abstract 106 https://t.co/FBTY7SnCxK #NCT04108624 #mmsm #mmMRD
ODAC Backs MRD Testing as Early Myeloma Trial Endpoint
A Historic Turning Point: ODAC Unanimously Votes [4/12/24] in Favor of MRD Testing as an Early Endpoint in Myeloma Clinical Trials to Support Accelerated Approvals of New Treatments [Apr 18, 2024] @IMFmyeloma https://t.co/eDOgIrpVeR #mmMRD #mmsm #ctsm @FDAOncology https://t.co/ejA8KSoxOL
Low‑cost, Patent‑free Vaccines Have Helped 100 Million
A “kazarian?” Is that like a Kardashian? What planet are these X trolls from? I develop low-cost often patent-free vaccines for global health and to help humanity. So far 100 million have benefited from access to our vaccine technologies developed...
AI Simulates Patient Tumors, Transforming Oncology Research
@Ronalfa is speaking at @SynBioBeta in May and you probably already know who he is if you've been paying any attention to the AI x bio space. Ron spent years at @RecursionPharma as SVP of Research and acting CSO, helping build...
New AI Platform Uncovers Hidden Cancer Targets, Raises $10M
Most cancer drugs go after the same targets: EGFR. PD-L1. HER2. Not because they’re the best targets. Because they’re the only ones we’ve been able to see. RyboDyn Inc. is going after what’s been invisible. The San Diego team, led by Imad Ajjawi, PhD,...
Obesity Drug News Sinks Wave, Lifts Kodiak
Wave crashes on obesity drug update; Kodiak’s reboot pays dividends https://t.co/20H9OXVtIB $WVE - 54% $KOD + 58%
FDA Guidance Sparks Innovation Path for Inherited Disorders
My article in today's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association Health Forum, on FDA's new rare disease guidance, and how the agency can build on these policy steps to promote innovation for inherited disorders, authored with Maarika...
FDA Approval Propels Denali, Boosts Rare Disease Biotech
FDA clears Denali drug in ‘clear step’ for rare disease biotechs https://t.co/x9yL4nyPaj by Kristin Jensen $DNLI #biotech
High‑Dose Psilocybin Outperforms Nicotine Patches Sixfold
One large psilocybin dose beat nicotine patches by 6x odds for smoking cessation. 82 otherwise-healthy cigarette smokers, 42 received a single high-dose 30mg/70kg psilocybin session, and 40 initiated an 8- to 10-week course of nicotine patch treatment. At 6 months; participants were 6x...
IPHYF Falls Short of Promise, Future Uncertain
Of all the IO companies I've met and covered in the past ~15 years I'm struggling to think of one that's been more disappointing vs its initial promise than $IPHYF. Will it even last beyond Q3? Via @ByMadeleineA -> https://t.co/DepdZfDBdY
Allogene's Interim Data Hints at Off‑Shelf CAR‑T Breakthrough
This week's Biotech Scorecard: Allogene $ALLO: A preview of its April interim analysis. Very interesting (to me, at least) There just might be a path forward for off-the-shelf CAR-T therapy in B-cell lymphoma. Frontline consolidation. Read all about it: https://t.co/tcPFelUH3C
Eggs as Cheap, Scalable Factories for New Medicines
I have a story today about the quest to turn eggs into low-cost factories for medicines. Gift link: https://nyti.ms/4bzSabB
Anti‑TGFβ1 Antibody Shows Durable Efficacy, Low Toxicity
Scholar Rock's anti-TGFb1 antibody clinical study with early data in oncology indications... minimal AEs and signs of durable efficacy in checkpoint-refractory patients. $SRRK https://t.co/8xsN4wtbMV
Prescribing CORT Lifyorli Differs From Cushing’s Experience
Here's prescribing info for $CORT Lifyorli -> https://t.co/i46Whl5lX6 Why so different from the experience in Cushing's? https://t.co/EqvbCApqHn
First Full GlyphAllo Data Reveal From Discovery to Human Proof‑of‑Concept
Proud of the work of our Seaport team & collaborators published today in @ScienceTM. This ~13 page peer reviewed paper is the first comprehensive data disclosure of our GlyphAllo™ program from discovery through initial human proof‑of‑concept.
Passion Fruit Compound Shields Mitochondria, Improves Mouse Memory
Alpha-amyrin, a molecule found in passion fruit, has demonstrated the ability to protect brain mitochondria and reduce memory loss in Alzheimer's mouse models, suggesting potential for future therapeutic development. neuroscience
Study’s Bias: Excluding TAD Nonresponders, Uncontrolled Therapy
Here it is again. Amazing how researchers could get away with this back then. Regular systematic bias of excluding TAD nonresponders. Also note another thing inconsistent with core psychedelic trial period i.e., that Ps were allowed to continue psychotherapy outside...
Open-Source DIY Guide to Building mRNA Vaccines
Inspired by the man who built a personalized cancer vaccine for his dog, I’ve written an open-source guide to DIY mRNA vaccine production: philfung.github.io/openvaxx Drawing on my background in running lab startups, the guide covers the entire process - from sequencing...
Blueprint for Affordable, Accessible AAV Gene Therapy
When people ask "How can we make #AAV #GeneTherapy accessible and affordable" --> this is how 👇
Summit Sparks Breakthroughs: AI, Gene Therapy, CRISPR, mRNA
One thing that really makes the in-person summits we run at STAT so amazing: the people in the room. Here's what happened when we asked some of them for the last big breakthrough they saw. Featuring: the infectious @DrBlytheAdamson, genomcis pioneer...
Escitalopram Yields -16.6 HAM‑D Drop After 8 Weeks
Anyone have a PDF of this? Perhaps there isn't a digital copy... This one showed an impressive -16.6 HAM-D drop with 8 weeks of escitalopram. It would be good to know their methodology. https://t.co/P5GCYcbxjk
Bridging Virtual Cells to Real Patients: The Next Frontier
Virtual biology burst onto the scene a few years ago. The idea was simple. Model the cell well enough, and you can predict biology before you test it. Large pharma has been thinking about this longer than most. PK/PD models, systems biology,...
FDA Clears Denali's AVLAYAH, 91% CSF
FDA clears Denali's AVLAYAH (macro), 91% CSF HS drop and analysts lift estimates (key). Risk: COMPASS confirmatory readout, infusion reactions. Trade: buy DNLI on 50‑day pullback 🚀 — Viktor Kopylov, PhD, CFA More insights: t.me/si14Kopylov
Venlafaxine Shows Unexpected -15.2 HAM‑D Drop in TAD Trial
See this for just 1 of the TAD trials from recent @psybalazs and @QuantPsychiatry comparative analysis. 1 of several deck stacks favoring TADs. This trial reported a surprising -15.2 HAM-D drop with venlafaxine. Not so surprising when you look closer......
Pharma AI Shifts From Cloud to On‑Device
Most AI companies believe the future is cloud-first. Pharma is different. In this industry, data is the kingdom. Experimental data. Molecular designs. Clinical insights. Some of the most valuable intellectual property on Earth. And in many cases, it cannot leave the lab. This is where the typical...
Engineered Immune Cells Target Refractory Myeloma, Broader Cancer Potential
Steady progress towards engineering immune cells in the body now for refractory myeloma , with major implications for many autoimmune diseases and cancers https://t.co/K3IksrCFlg https://t.co/1AQ5rLuH1g
CEO Amy Burroughs Discusses M&A Post‑ASH25 Data
I asked $TERN CEO Amy Burroughs right after the #ASH25 data was out how she felt about M&A. Congrats to her and her team. https://t.co/2HemPoiqWO
MRK Likely to Rerun TERN Study for Data
Based on previous form $MRK will probably now rerun the $TERN study, just to prove to itself that the data were real.
AI ROI Arrives as Billions Adopt Health Wearables
The view from my hotel room in Chamonix is quite spectacular. I spoke yesterday at a global event organized by a major pharma company. They organized it near Mt. Blanc to make the country managers literally aim higher and higher. I...