Hey, folks -- please show some love/encouragement to a recent Bio MS grad (on the job market!) who's blogging about biomedical research in the Mideast and North Africa: www.linkedin.com/newsletters/...

Hi, folks! I just posted another "links list" of biopharma-relevant stuff that caught my attention (incl. "AI and Alzheimer's cures" -- color me skeptical). mailchi.mp/pharmagellan...

New essay on measuring biopharma innovation in The Incidental Economist -- led by @sukhunkang.bsky.social; I pitched in: theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/me...

Great curated list, @franksdavid.bsky.social -and would have expected no less!

My latest "link list": mailchi.mp/pharmagellan...

My unsexy but easy suggestion for Marty Makary M.D., M.P.H. on boosting "radical transparency" at the FDA: www.statnews.com/2025/07/29/f...

New (from me): blogging advice for folks who want to get into biotech strategy or finance, incl. resources, examples, and tips to get started: www.linkedin.com/pulse/you-sh...

Ask me anything! If you have questions about writing, podcasting, global health, medical innovation, data, or anything else, I'll be doing an AMA on the EA Forum next week. It's between 6-8pm BST on July 8th but you can also leave qs here in advance: forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/i2DtGA...

Hi, folks -- here's my inaugural "links list" of recent items that caught my eye in biotech R&D and other areas. Please let me know what you think! eepurl.com/jih0E2

Generics FTW. Also, anyone even mildly interested in drug pricing should read Peter Kolchinsky’s “Great American Drug Deal”.

While the data have been known for some time, I have to say I keep catching myself staring off into space contemplating how life will change for so many with $GILD approval of a twice-yearly shot capable of preventing 99.9% of HIV cases. Remarkable.

Good resource for biotech entrepreneurs (HT @wilbanks.bsky.social)

Apparently hope *is* a strategy after all. endpoints.news/roche-moves-... by @leileiwu.bsky.social of Endpoints

Good piece —>

Great thread — bookmarking for my drug dev class. HT @thewonkologist.bsky.social

Love this — I’ve sent it to many Tufts Bio students. (So far only 1 has started a blog, but I’m not giving up.)

Me: “FIVE hours?” Also me: <hits the “subscribe” button>

I don’t follow the generics market closely, let alone international Gx — so I found this piece by @dereklowe.bsky.social particularly bananas! Go read it. www.science.org/content/blog...

Good reading recs here from Jacob Trefethen of Open Phil: blog.jacobtrefethen.com/science-writ...

Valid point

Really interesting post from new Ch Med Ofc of Oura Ring pointing to next steps for device: integration w traditional patient care systems (presumably Epic etc), impact on health behavior… (in previous role at Apple his expertise included health data interoperability…) cc @franksdavid.bsky.social

Or simply: Get lucky: pick winners.

Good template for a clear paper abstract — HT @johnholbein1.bsky.social (who credits @fgilardi.bsky.social)

New paper on pharma revenue drivers by IDEA Pharma — here’s the TL;DR (w/apologies to Michael Pollan; IYKYK): “Spend on R&D. Not too much. Mostly Phase 3 trials.” www.ideapharma.com/insights/rev...

New “Healthspan” whitepaper by the folks at Whoop. I’m skeptical of these sorts of things but I haven’t read it yet and this isn’t my expertise. Curious to hear thoughts from @dshaywitz.bsky.social and others who follow this area. www.whoop.com/us/en/theloc...

Most cogent “bear case” I’ve read on where we are / where we’re going on AI. By Dwarkesh Patel: www.dwarkesh.com/p/timelines-...

Big “college student seeing final course grade” energy(Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) via NYT).

This is a really fun question to throw at your colleagues when you’re a biologist

My new Timmerman Report column discusses recent @nejm.org study linking exercise, cancer recov, focusing on methodological ?s of Dr. J Mandrola, pt-focused concerns of Jennifer Goldsack timmermanreport.com/2025/06/nejm... @alicecallahan.bsky.social @franksdavid.bsky.social @meganranney.bsky.social

Smart post by John Mandrola on limitations of the “exercise cures cancer” paper in NEJM: www.sensible-med.com/p/exercise-i...

My 2c: if a Ph 3 trial hits 1 of 2 co-primary EPs, the PR should say so in the headline. That said, lede of main text in this case is very clear. So, I’d give “partial credit”. Case: www.businesswire.com/news/home/20... My prior take on biotech PR shenanigans: www.pharmagellan.com/blog/red-fla...

@deenamousa.com’s new post on $/QALY is excellent! (Re-posting with link.) newsletter.deenamousa.com/p/how-much-d...

I love the $/QALY topic so much, and Deena’s post is excellent!

GLP-1 drugs are a health econ ticking time bomb… 1. Good summary today of the (huge) addressable population by WSJ’s Peter Loftus: www.wsj.com/health/pharm... 2. Pair it with ICER’s analysis last month of the cost-effectiveness and affordability issues: icer.org/wp-content/u...

If you’re looking for a humorous literary break, this post by @ksetiya.bsky.social is for you: ksetiya.substack.com/p/selected-a...

Love this deep dive on upcoming sickle cell trial readouts by @plainyogurt21.bsky.social. Agree or disagree w/his points, he’s putting out some thoughtful, data-backed arguments. Biopharma needs more folks writing these sorts of posts! adus.substack.com/p/sickle-cel...

Nice discussion of “effect you’d like to see” vs “effect you’d like to not miss” in context of clinical trial size/power. I hadn’t seen the issue presented this way before — very useful framing!

Great advice on writing accessible prose about technical topics by @dingdingpeng.the100.ci www.the100.ci/2024/12/01/w... HT @statsepi.bsky.social

1st FDA-cleared Alzheimer’s blood test — finally! Looking forward to digging into the data. Eric Snyder, Jake Olin, & I argued in 2012 that pharma would be a (the?) big winner from a non-imaging AD Dx. Arguments still basically hold up imho. www.nature.com/articles/nrd...

As we await more RFKJr/fluoride developments, check out this bananas piece about a start-up’s aim to eradicate cavities with a genetically engineered bacterium: undark.org/2024/04/17/b... via @undark.org

Should low-dose statins be available OTC in the US? (UK did this in early 2000s!) Read Alex Kesin’s case in favor: www.alexkesin.com/p/mr-secreta... Thoughts from @cnewtoncheh.bsky.social, @ethanjweiss.bsky.social?

Another eg @stevelohr.bsky.social prescience: 2023 NYT on how today's AI killer app: paperwork: www.nytimes.com/2023/06/26/t... . Pairs w recent eg of @amgen.bsky.social applying it to R&D: blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2025/04... (h/t @franksdavid.bsky.social); my 2c pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39674343/

"President Trump could have walked softly and carried a big stick. As pharmaceutical investors see it, he instead stomped loudly and wielded a wet noodle." Great writing @matthewherper.bsky.social . www.statnews.com/2025/05/13/t...

I think this is a great example of how AI tools can be useful in the near-term in big orgs. Letting AI loose on all the knowledge that’s locked away in PPT and PDF docs in a big pharma — about successful and failed programs — is a great use case. www.microsoft.com/en/customers...

Good stuff here —>

When it comes to the legal aspects of pharma policy, there’s almost always a @rachelsachs.bsky.social article/post…

WE’RE BACK, BABY! 🤑

Intersection btw the IRA and oncology R&D — nice summary of work by me and @dusetzinas.bsky.social in @onclive.bsky.social: www.onclive.com/view/inflati...

A press release with “blown away” and “game-changer” in bolded quotes is perhaps a tad “aggressive.” www.fda.gov/news-events/...