My op-ed on why we should socialize drug development is up on Undark
Give it a read and tell me what you think.
Month: March 2018
Does zinc decrease the length of colds?
There is some evidence that it does. A meta-analysis of three high-dose zinc trials found the following: Zinc acetate lozenges shortened the duration of • nasal discharge by 34% • nasal congestion by 37% • sneezing by 22% • scratchy throat by 33% • sore throat by 18% • cough by 46% • Zinc lozenges Read More …
Does taking aspirin prevent the immune system from killing common cold viruses?
This is a great question. After all, if the purpose of fever is to fight infection, it stands to reason that suppressing fever weakens the body’s response to infection. And this reasoning has some experimental support – in both humans and animals, moderate fever seems to decrease the damage and mortality caused by infections [1] Read More …
Are some countries still caught in a Malthusian Trap?
Yes. Many consider Malthus’ thesis refuted by the incontestable observation that both population and per capita income are rising. But Malthus was no fool. He simply had the misfortune to publish his Essay on the Principle of Population in 1798, at the end of the Malthusian Era. His core observation that population increases eat up (literally) all Read More …
Naked Mole Rats do not fade away
No doubt we will soon be seeing “Naked Mole Rats are Immortal – Are Humans Next?” headlines from the more clueless breeds of science writers. But that should’t obscure just how interesting and important this result is. Virtually all creatures age – that is, they show declines in function which increase their probability of dying Read More …
The Soviet Union used bacteriophage therapy. Why don’t we?
Published by Apple News and Forbes I am amazed at the number of science journalists who write the “phage therapy is being revived and may solve the resistance crisis” article over and over again. It is a genre of science reporting that never seems to grow old. Reporters, or at least their editors, should know Read More …
What happens now that Elizabeth Holmes has been accused of fraud by the SEC?
Well, here’s two things that I hope will happen: Science journalists stop being such suckers for facile storylines. I mean, most of the Theranos coverage amounted to “Brilliant college dropout disrupts trillion-dollar industry with this one weird trick!”. They should aspire to writing stories better than the banner ads on their webpages. The whole notion Read More …
Another weak phage therapy paper
The rise of diabetes in the developed world has brought along a rise in persistent ulcers and abscesses. These infections don’t respond particularly well to either systemic or topical antibiotics and as a result, an unfortunately high proportion are resolved by amputation. This is nobody’s notion of an acceptable medical outcome. Phage therapy has been Read More …
How can we make pharmaceuticals more affordable without disincentivizing innovation?
The main thing to keep in mind while addressing this question is that the vast majority of approved drugs in the US – up to 90%[1] – are “me-too” drugs. These are drugs that address no unmet clinical need or offer no improvements over existing drugs. These drugs predominate because pharma companies believe they will get Read More …
Which therapeutic areas are overfunded relative to clinical need?
It’s not possible to answer this question precisely as posed because non-governmental (ie., corporate) pharma research budgets are either not available or not broken out by therapeutic area. Since US corporate therapeutic R&D spending, at some $70B in 2012, is about twice that of the NIH and other US government agencies[1], this is a big Read More …