FREE LINK for a SCOOP > Mapp Biopharmaceutical is working with the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority on an #Ebola treatment. @gerryfsmith.bsky.social has the story > www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
US Enlists Small Biotech Firm for Experimental Ebola Treatment
US officials are working with a small biotech company to provide an experimental treatment that may be used in patients exposed to Ebola, according to a person familiar with the matter.
bloomberg.com
New: Can AI drug development live up to the hype? The industry is pouring billions into the idea that it can make the process faster and more predictable, but there's reason for caution: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Can AI Drug Development Live Up to the Hype?
Big Pharma is pouring money into tech-devised treatments, but the verdict is out on whether they’ll actually work.
bloomberg.com
Scientists in Chile came close to a hantavirus vaccine in 20-16, but ran out of money for human trials. Antonia Mufarech and @gerryfsmith.bsky.social have the story > www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Hantavirus Scientists Were Close to Vaccine But Ran Out of Money
Virologist María Inés Barría remembers the Eureka moment from a decade ago.
bloomberg.com
The biotech industry is cheering Marty Makary's departure from the FDA. calling his tenure “nothing short of chaotic.” @gerryfsmith.bsky.social has the story > www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Makary’s Exit From FDA Gives Biotech Hope the ‘Circus’ Is Over
Marty Makary’s exit as head of the Food and Drug Administration is giving the biotech industry hope for stability after months of turmoil.
bloomberg.com
New: When Cobenfy was approved more than 18 months ago, it was celebrated as a game-changer for the 23 million people worldwide with schizophrenia. But after more than a full year on the market, it has struggled to gain traction. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Bristol’s ‘Miracle’ Schizophrenia Drug Has a Disappointing Start
Analysts cut Cobenfy expectations as patients struggle to get the new drug.
bloomberg.com
FREE LINK > Regeneron's gene therapy to treat children born deaf has been approved by the FDA. @gerryfsmith.bsky.social tells the story of its amazing impact on the life of 2-year-old Travis Smith www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Hormone therapy is making a $6 billion comeback after U.S. health officials nixed safety warnings that kept women from much-needed menopause and perimenopause treatments for two decades
Scoop: Biogen has agreed to acquire Apellis Pharmaceuticals for $5.6 billion, expanding its treatments in immunology and rare diseases in one of the company’s largest-ever acquisitions www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Biogen to Buy Apellis for $5.6 Billion to Boost Kidney Franchise
Biogen Inc. has agreed to acquire Apellis Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $5.6 billion, expanding its treatments in immunology and rare diseases in one of the company’s largest-ever acquisitions.
bloomberg.com
For my latest @opinion.bloomberg.com, some thoughts on Vinay Prasad's (second) ouster:
Prasad’s FDA Exit Offers Relief — Not Resolution
The revolving door at the Food and Drug Administration has pushed out another top official: Vinay Prasad, the controversial head of the agency’s vaccine and gene therapy arm, will depart in April.
bloomberg.com
Scoop: A key US Republican senator said he’s launched an investigation into the FDA’s recent denials of treatments for rare diseases, adding political pressure on an agency that’s already in turmoil. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Key US Senator Investigates FDA Over Rare-Disease Drug Denials
A key US Republican senator said he’s launched an investigation into the Food and Drug Administration’s recent denials of treatments for rare diseases, adding political pressure on an agency that’s al...
bloomberg.com
Big late Friday biotech news: Vinay Prasad, the head of the FDA’s division that oversees vaccines and gene therapies, is leaving the agency (again) after a tumultuous tenure. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Top Vaccine Regulator at US FDA Set to Leave Post Next Month
The head of the US Food and Drug Administration’s division of vaccines and gene therapies is leaving the agency after a tumultuous tenure, sending biotech shares higher in late trading on Friday.
bloomberg.com
Would you undergo fake brain surgery if it helped bring a new drug to market? Our story on a clash over a gene therapy for Huntington’s disease: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
FDA Push for 10-Hour Fake Brain Surgery Trial Raises Ethical Concerns
Katie Jackson desperately wants a new treatment for Huntington’s disease. Her husband died from the devastating brain disorder. And because the disease runs in families, her three children have a 50% ...
bloomberg.com
Moderna's chairman and cofounder says the Trump administration's vaccine restrictions are part of a broader attack on science. @gerryfsmith.bsky.social has the details. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Moderna Sees Sales Boost From Better-Than-Expected Covid Shots
Moderna Inc.’s chairman says the Trump administration’s vaccine policy changes are part of a broader attack on science that may have only just begun.
bloomberg.com
GIFT LINK > Bloomberg's Cancer Capitalism investigations this year dug into the many ways drug companies and providers profit off the tragic disease — and how patients can suffer because of this. John Tozzi and Robert Langreth distill it here: www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Cancer Capitalism: How Drug Companies and Health Providers Profit
Leading to overcharges, treatments that don’t extend lives and failed implants.
bloomberg.com
Pharma companies are pouring billions into new cancer treatments that link two old drugs together — with little proof they help patients live longer. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Drugmakers Pile Into a Cancer Gold Rush With Questionable Payoff
Pharma companies are spending billions on a treatment based off old drugs, with little evidence it will extend lives.
bloomberg.com
Cellphone bans help students focus. They may also help kids get along better, @gerryfsmith.bsky.social reports in Prognosis > www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Do School Cellphone Bans Improve Students’ Mental Health?
Hi, it's Gerry in New York, where schools have banned smartphones in the classroom for the first time. I spoke to one high school student in a neighboring state about how a phone ban at his school has...
bloomberg.com
VERY big news for companies that make custom gene-editing treatments — the FDA is ready to unveil a faster approach to approvals. @gerryfsmith.bsky.social has the story > www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
FDA Clears Way for Faster Personalized Gene Editing Treatments
A top US regulator plans to unveil a faster approach to approving custom gene-editing treatments, a move designed to unleash a wave of industry investment that will yield cures for patients with rare ...
bloomberg.com
Yesterday, we published a lengthy look at Moderna's post-Covid fall, from one of the most valued companies in the world to to a biotech facing serious questions about its longterm future It's a story of hubris, the limits of mRNA technology, and, of course, RFK Jr www.statnews.com/2025/10/30/m...
How Moderna, the company that helped save the world, unraveled
Exclusive: The inside story of why Moderna now faces a crisis unlike any in its 15-year-history.
statnews.com
In my @bloomberg.com Big Take out today I explored how Hologic pushed a medical device on breast cancer patients despite hundreds of complaints, most of which stayed buried until now
New: Our deep dive on how parents of boys with a rare muscle disease got a controversial gene therapy back on the market. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
How the Moms and Dads of Patients Won Sarepta’s Drug a Reprieve
Some experts worry that patient groups’ growing influence is leading to the approval of drugs that may not work and could sometimes be dangerous.
bloomberg.com
Baby KJ made history as the first person to get a custom-made treatment using the gene-editing tool Crispr. Now a push is underway to do the same thing for eight more kids. www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Making Personalized Crispr Cures to Save More Babies
Hi, it’s Gerry in New York. Researchers are trying to build on the success of “baby KJ” and make more personalized treatments for kids with rare diseases. More on that in a moment, but first ...
bloomberg.com
The FDA gave full approval to Moderna's Covid vaccine for kids under 12, but only for those at increased risk. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Moderna’s Covid Shot Fully Approved by FDA for Use in Children
US regulators approved Moderna Inc.’s Covid vaccine for children, but for a narrower group than before, continuing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s controversial policy that restricts access to the shots for s...
bloomberg.com
The US has hit a grim measles milestone--the highest number of cases in 33 years. It's July. My latest @opinion.bloomberg.com (gift link):
RFK Jr. Could Have Ensured This Grim Measles Record Wasn’t Broken
US cases are the highest they’ve been since the virus was declared eradicated 25 years ago. The health secretary’s anti-vax agenda is part of the reason.
bloomberg.com
Parents are getting their kids vaccinated early, worried that recent moves by RFK Jr. could limit access to childhood shots. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
RFK Jr. Is Scaring Parents Into Asking Doctors for Early Shots
Pediatricians weigh the risks of vaccinating ahead of schedule with threat of shot shortages looming.
bloomberg.com
Fun details from @jessicanix.bsky.social Damian Garde and @gerryfsmith.bsky.social in this story on RFK Jr.'s revamped vaccine panel: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is getting rid of all the members of committee that advises the US on vaccine safety. @gerryfsmith.bsky.social has a first take out -- update coming shortly > www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
RFK Jr. Removes All Members of CDC Panel Advising on Vaccines
The Department of Health and Human Services is retiring the 17 members of a committee of government vaccine advisers, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Monday.
bloomberg.com
Today, @seckennedy.govpeeps.us said the Covid shot has been taken off the recommend vaccine list for health children and pregnant women. Here’s a gift link to the @bloomberg.com story from me and @gerryfsmith.bsky.social www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
RFK Jr. Says Covid Shot No Longer Recommended for Healthy Kids
US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the Covid shot has been taken off of the country’s recommended vaccine list for healthy children and pregnant women, a seismic shift i...
bloomberg.com
FREE LINK > Even as the federal government pulls back on vaccines, CVS is pushing Americans to get their shots. @ikeswetlitz.bsky.social explains why > www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
CVS Offers Bonuses and Pizza Parties as Perks to Boost Vaccine Sales
High-margin inoculations bring more customers into drugstores.
bloomberg.com
The FDA will no longer approve Covid booster vaccines for healthy adults under 65 and kids without new clinical trials. @gerryfsmith.bsky.social has the details > www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
FDA Requires Studies of Covid Boosters for Healthy Kids, Adults
US regulators will no longer approve booster shots to prevent Covid infections for healthy adults and children without new clinical trials showing they are still safe and effective, adding a costly ne...
bloomberg.com
The entire vaccine world is in turmoil, but Covid shots, especially for children, have become especially controversial in the Trump administration. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
RFK Jr. Takes Aim at Covid Shots for Kids, Worrying Vaccine Experts
Senior leaders at the US Food and Drug Administration began pushing Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc. to file for full, formal approval of their Covid vaccines for children last summer. The conversations g...
bloomberg.com