Pearl Freier
@pearlf.bsky.social
From Boston, MA. I'm @pearlf on the other blue-colored place. Founder of Cambridge BioPartners, Inc. I post mostly healthcare-related and biotech-related news items.
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Omar Yaghi (2025), who built much of his scientific career at UC Berkeley, has joined Beijing’s Tsinghua University full-time as a Chair Professor. The appointment ceremony was on July 3 www.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/info/1244... #medsky #biosky
If genomic interpretation can become more widely availablw in minutes like below, it could help clinicians make more informed decisions at point of care: identifyinging drug metabolism differences, avoiding serious toxicities, selecting therapies & matching patients 2 clinical trials #medsky #biosky
Pearl Freier@pearlf.bsky.social · last mo.Stanford genetics & biomedical data sci prof & dept of medicine chair used Claude 2 analyze his genome. What took 9 mos & 30 ppl in '09—took 30 min, 400K tokens & cost $5 in '26. Used 180 word prompt. Fable was downgraded to Opus 4.8 due to "security" www.linkedin.com/feed/update/... #medsky #biosky
Stanford genetics & biomedical data sci prof & dept of medicine chair used Claude 2 analyze his genome. What took 9 mos & 30 ppl in '09—took 30 min, 400K tokens & cost $5 in '26. Used 180 word prompt. Fable was downgraded to Opus 4.8 due to "security" www.linkedin.com/feed/update/... #medsky #biosky
An important #medsky story below about declining patient privacy in the US:
Darius Tahir@dariustahir.bsky.social · 2mo agoRFK Jr. and his allies want to get huge numbers of medical records together -- eventually comprising most Americans -- so that they can pursue autism research. Public health leaders are balking. Amanda Seitz and I, @cnn.com: www.cnn.com/2026/06/04/h...
HHS Sec Kennedy is pursuing federal govt access to most Americans’ medical records to access their vaccination history & health records for his autism research project according to @kffhealthnews.org story on CNN. He's studying chronic disease too he said. More ⬇️ www.cnn.com/2026/06/04/h... #medsky
An experimental #GSK drug achieved a functional cure for chronic #hepatitisB in 1 in 5 people treated in a pair of clinical trials, @statnews.com 's Drew Joseph reports. www.statnews.com/2026/05/28/h...
Experimental hepatitis B treatment was a ‘functional cure’ for nearly 1 in 5, new data show
An experimental GSK drug helped 1 in 5 patients with chronic hepatitis B achieve what's known as a functional cure, vastly outpacing current treatments.
statnews.com
WHO chief says suspected Ebola deaths at 220 and 'epidemic is outpacing us' www.rte.ie/news/world/2...
WHO chief warns Ebola 'epidemic is outpacing us'
The director-general of the World Health Organization said that there had been 220 suspected deaths in the current Ebola outbreak and that a delay in detecting cases meant responders were now "playin...
rte.ie
On healthcare AI education/courses: GE Healthcare announced they are making 20+ hours of healthcare AI education available at no cost through Hello AI (GE's AI fluency program) h/t GE Healthcare's Chief Science & Technology Officer Taha Kass-Hout research.gehealthcare.com/across-the-e... #medsky .
My latest for @opinion.bloomberg.com on the rapidly escalating Ebola outbreak--and why the US's decimation of USAID, cuts at CDC and exit from the WHO could make an already-tough situation worse (gift link):
Containing Ebola Is Hard. The US Made It Worse
A rapidly unfolding Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo is a reminder of the value of maintaining robust global disease surveillance and response systems — and the dire consequences of we...
bloomberg.com
On the US's slow response to the Ebola & hantavirus outbreaks, also note that NIH was recently told by HHS Secretary Kennedy's dept to remove biodefense language from their websites due to deprioritization announcement last yr. Here's @cidrap.bsky.social www.cidrap.umn.edu/bioterrorism... #medsky
The US had a 48 hr response time during '22 Ebola outbreak in a city of 1 million on the Congo River h/t '23 essay by @agawande.bsky.social which looked at progress since '13. Compare this w/ HHS Secretary Kennedy's response on measles, hantavirus & now Ebola in '26. See link in the reply #medsky
See below for update on Ebola outbreak in DR Congo & Americans: #medsky
Helen Branswell 🇨🇦@helenbranswell.bsky.social · 3mo agoThe US government is working to extricate some Americans who had potentially problematic exposures to suspected #Ebola #Bundibugyo in DRC. But it won’t talk about it. When I and other journalists asked during a #CDC press conference, we got no answers. www.statnews.com/2026/05/17/i...
On rumors that Americans were exposed to Ebola, @jeremyfaust.bsky.social substack said HHS Secretary's CDC team during media briefing 5/17 wasn't able to confirm or deny high risk exposures #medsky. Q's re: unconfirmed reports about "3 potential high-risk exposures & 1 symptomatic patient." 1/n
This court case about CVS flagged by @bobjherman.bsky.social is helpful if you want to wrap you head around how PBMs have used GPOs to make the drug supply chain and pricing even more complicated. www.documentcloud.org/documents/27...
Roofers Union v. CVS Health
documentcloud.org
On FDA, Q's re Commish's National Priority Vouchers by FDA policy expert K. Trzeciak (ex FDA). *Will FDA issue guidance 2 clarify product selection criteria, sponsor expectations & review timelines. *Will FDA publish minutes from CNPV Council meetings www.linkedin.com/posts/kimber... #medsky #biosky
On H-1B applications, Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the US House of Representatives to exempt physicians & other healthcare workers from the new $100,000 H-1B visa application fee h/t @medpagetoday.com www.medpagetoday.com/washington-w... #medsky
Court documents in lawsuit against HHS filed by American Academy of Pediatrics reveal HHS memos showing FDA/HHS allegedly hid data from the public re: the safety of vaccines when they changed US vaccine policies. Info incl the acting head of FDA's CDER ⬇️. #medsky www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
The FDA approved 20 drugs via the Accelerated Approval pathway in 2024—in 2025 the FDA only approved 9 drugs via accelerated approval said Gottlieb at the CNBC Cures summit focused on rare diseases #CNBCCures #medsky
Pearl Freier@pearlf.bsky.social · 5mo agoThe FDA's oncology drugs review staff is down to <60 from 100 employees said ex FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb ('17-'19) on panel at #CNBCCures conf moderated by Becky Quick.HIgh # of senior reviewers are gone & v difficult to replace. Will probably see a higher # of CRLs in '26 he said #medsky
The FDA's oncology drugs review staff is down to <60 from 100 employees said ex FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb ('17-'19) on panel at #CNBCCures conf moderated by Becky Quick.HIgh # of senior reviewers are gone & v difficult to replace. Will probably see a higher # of CRLs in '26 he said #medsky
@shanpalus.bsky.social reviews "Flackers" and nails the problem with Casey Means. slate.com/technology/2...
One Detail About Trump’s Pick for Surgeon General Has Haunted Me for Years. Get Ready.
A wellness influencer could soon be writing the warning labels on your vices.
slate.com
Novartis's ex president of global drug development & ex CMO Dr. John Tsai has been hired by Japanese pharma Daiichi Sankyo to be Global Head of R&D in April. He was an executive partner at UK-based VC firm Syncona working on early stage biotech after he left Novartis daiichisankyo.us/press-releas...
No word yet if Bhattacharya will also serve as the acting director of FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) & as the acting Chief Medical and Scientific Officer if Prasad resigns from the FDA again: #medsky
Sheryl Gay Stolberg@sherylnyt.bsky.social · 6mo agoSCOOP: Jay Bhattacharya, NIH director, will also serve as acting CDC director, per two admin officials, until Trump names a permanent director. POTUS will nominate Jim O'Neill, who left HHS on Friday, to run National Science Foundation. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/u...
A staffing update at CDC & NSF: The NIH Director will reportedly now also be serving as acting CDC Director according to NYT's inside sources. Jim O'Neill, prev acting CDC dir & deputy health secretary, is going to be nominated by Trump to run the NSF. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/u... #medsky
The FDA's head of CBER has reportedly been accused of se*xual harassment of FDA employees & retaliation according to tonight's WSJ story. Here's an unlocked link to the story: #medsky www.wsj.com/health/healt...
Attendee at private investor meeting with FDA: Why did the FDA approve leucovorin calcium to treat a condition associated with autism? The largest study to date has been retracted by the journal after several of the authors admitted errors. Makary: The Dow is over $50,000!!! #medsky
The same problem for schizophrenia or bipolar disorder or any disease that HHS Secretary Kennedy believes can be treated or cured by a keto diet or "Real Food" or whatever he says. What was FDA's basis for approving leucovorin for autism? #medsky ⬇️
Caitlin Rivers@cmyeaton.bsky.social · 6mo agoThis is troubling for multiple reasons, but one big one is companies won’t want to invest in R&D and clinical trials if they don’t think they can get a fair regulatory review—which is at the end of a long and extremely expensive process. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/h...
Moderna's seasonal investigational influenza vaccine, mRNA-1010, has been submitted & accepted for review in EU, Canada & Australia. Kennedy's FDA now officially refuses to review the vaccine. "Refusal to review the submission is inconsistent with feedback at pre-Phase 3 & pre-submission" #medsky ⬇️
Christina Jewett@by-cjewett.bsky.social · 6mo agoNEW: The F.D.A. refused to accept an application from Moderna for its mRNA flu vaccine. Its reason: The agency did not think Moderna compared the new vaccine to one of the best flu shots available. The company spent $750M+ on a 41,000 person study. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/h...