STAT
‘Scientific gold rush’ created by quest for universal immunotherapy
The drug industry has made a mint on immunotherapies for cancer, but those game-changing treatments don’t work for most people’s tumors ...
‘Wake-up call’? CRISPR gene editing may cause ‘genetic havoc’, study suggests
From the earliest days of the CRISPR-Cas9 era, scientists have known that the first step in how it edits genomes — snipping ...
Patients with suicidal thoughts can be included in depression clinical trials, FDA says
The Food and Drug Administration is overhauling its guidance for developing treatments for major depressive disorder for the first time ...
Adaptive Oncogenesis: Alternative to ‘brute force’ cancer cures, which often leave patients severely damaged
In Darwinian evolution, organisms that are well-adapted to their environments flourish and crowd out those that aren’t. My colleagues and ...
Immunotherapy can provide ‘spectacular results’. But how effective is it for the elderly?
Immunotherapy is effective against a variety of cancers, with sometimes spectacular results. But I worry about how effective it is in ...
Viewpoint: We need better access to genetic tests to fulfill the promise of precision medicine
[E]ven as innovative targeted [cancer] therapies become available, various barriers prevent patients from gaining access to them. One hurdle that ...
Mixing psychiatry and neurology: This doctor treats patients other doctors have given up on
[Neuroscientist Alice Flaherty] has been toying with the boundaries of illness itself. She likes seeing patients other doctors have given ...
Key question facing new gene therapy for blood disorders: How long will it last?
New versions of Bluebird Bio’s gene therapy for inherited blood disorders yielded significant benefits for patients, according to updated results from ...
Biosimilar market creates rift in drug industry known for its solidarity
The pharmaceutical industry’s massive lobbying operation has a well-earned reputation for maintaining a united front on most of the major ...
Viewpoint: Why you should give your DNA to NIH’s ‘All of Us’ initiative
The National Institutes of Health recently launched the All of Us Research Program to create one of the largest, richest public resources for biomedical ...
First marijuana-based drug gets nod from FDA for 2 forms of epilepsy
The Food and Drug Administration on Monday [June 25] approved the country’s first drug derived from marijuana, a medication that ...
FDA changing policy on how best to spur development of biosimilar drugs that resemble brand-name biologics
In an unusual step, the Food and Drug Administration withdrew a draft guidance that was issued last fall to help companies develop ...
White House proposes FDA transfer its crop and animal oversight responsibilities to USDA
The Trump administration has proposed a fundamental change to the mission of the Food and Drug Administration, one that would ...
Privacy concerns? Genetic testing companies pressed by US lawmakers
Pressure is growing on direct-to-consumer genealogy and genetic testing companies to be more transparent about their privacy policies, after the ...
Fighting disease, not making money, focus of new Gates Foundation biotech institute
There’s a new biotech in town. And it doesn’t care about making money. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has ...
What we need to know about reports suggesting CRISPR can cause cancer
STAT’s story about CRISPR-edited cells often lacking a functional gene known to prevent cancer caused a bit of a stir... Cut to ...
Can we figure out how to get new drugs to the market faster?
Have you heard the oft-repeated “fact” that it takes at least 10 years from initial discovery for a new drug ...
Right to try? Drug companies can’t be forced to let terminal patients try experimental treatments
Just after her second birthday, additional testing, including an MRI of her brain and spine followed by a genetic analysis, ...
Viewpoint: Biohackers are interested in science education, not planning the ‘next global apocalypse’
Some people call me a biohacker. My colleagues like the term because it sounds cool, and journalists like it because ...
Immunotherapy dilemma: When should untested therapies be prescribed for cancer patients?
Immunotherapy is a source of great hope in cancer care. It has rescued some patients from the brink, while giving others a ...
Studies warn that CRISPR gene edits could trigger cancer
Editing cells’ genomes with CRISPR-Cas9 might increase the risk that the altered cells, intended to treat disease, will trigger cancer, two studies ...
CRISPRcon talks designer babies and scientific colonialism
While lacking the costuming of Comic-Con or revelry of SantaCon, [CRISPRCon’s] second annual geek-out dealt with a concept weightier than ...
Who deserves credit for CRISPR? There’s a ‘profound disconnect between law and science’
One of the world’s richest science awards, given only in alternate years, will go to three discoverers of the CRISPR-Cas9 ...
Genes linked to schizophrenia significantly increase risk if there are pregnancy complications
Far be it from us to tell 23andMe how to run its business, but if it or any other DNA company wants ...
First Luxterna results: Does the $850,000 gene therapy work?
About eight weeks earlier, [Jack Hogan had] been the first person to get an $850,000 therapy called Luxturna since it had hit the market ...
Hemophilia gene therapies put on fast track to FDA approval
The Food and Drug Administration will soon be alerting companies that certain gene therapies in development can qualify for less ...
No male birth control due to lack of pharmaceutical industry support—not male disinterest
That the responsibility for preventing unintended pregnancy still lies almost exclusively with women remains one of the world’s great health ...
Night shift workers are at greater risk for obesity, diabetes, cancer—but why?
Researchers have been studying night workers for years, trying to better understand what happens to our circadian rhythms and our ...
