blogs.sciencemag.orgIn the Pipeline | Derek Lowe’s commentary on drug discovery and the pharma industry. An editorially

-- -- Skip to main content AAAS ScienceMag.org Search Search X Advanced Search Science Translational Medicine Contents News Careers Journals Menu Derek Lowe's commentary on drug discovery and the pharma industry. An editorially independent blog from the publishers of Science Translational Medicine . All content is Derek’s own, and he does not in any way speak for his employer. By Derek Lowe Drug Development Drug Approvals Over the Last Ten Years 9 March, 2021 Here’s a look back at the last ten years of FDA drug approvals, and it’s a pretty encouraging read. As the authors mention, in the early 2000s there was quite a bit of worry about the directions that drug research (and drug approvals) might be taking. We were getting to the end of some of… Read More Molnupiravir: Last of the Small-Molecule Coronavirus Hopes? 4 March, 2021 Update: the day after this post appeared, Merck and Ridgeback announced some preliminary positive data on reduction of viral load in treated patients. The full Phase II data should be coming soon? A lot of people have been wondering about what’s up with a small-molecular antiviral compound that’s been in the news on and off… Read More How to Administer RNA – And How to Do It Again 3 March, 2021 As the world knows, the mRNA vaccines for the coronavirus are proving to be very effective. That’s welcome news for the obvious pandemic reasons, but it’s also welcome validation for a technique that’s been in the works for many years now. I’ll take a moment to re-emphasize how fortunate we are that so much of… Read More Early March Vaccine Thoughts 2 March, 2021 Some thoughts about the current vaccine trials and data, some of which are probably obvious, but which might be worth bringing together: First, as many have been mentioning, it’s tempting but quite difficult to compare the vaccines (and vaccine candidates) head-to-head by looking at their phase III data. I would only feel safe doing this… Read More A Malaria Vaccine Candidate 1 March, 2021 This story has been passed around a lot the last few days, and I’ve had several people ask me what I’ve thought of it. It’s on a really interesting possibility for a malaria vaccine, and part of the narrative hook is that it’s using mRNA technology, which is about as attention-getting a topic these days… Read More Analytical Chemistry Vetiver 25 February, 2021 In my experience, most organic and medicinal chemists are always ready to hear about the latest results in two branches of the science: things that explode and things with weird smells. Maybe we are in our way “singularly in touch with the primitive promptings of humanity”, as Captain Grimes says in Decline and Fall (although… Read More Covid-19 The J&J Vaccine at the FDA 24 February, 2021 The briefing documents are out at the FDA site for Friday’s hearing on the J&J vaccine. Here’s a summary at STAT from Matthew Herper and Helen Branswell, and I agree with their take: overall, the numbers look good. Update: here’s a good Twitter thread from Hilda Bastian, and here’s one from Eric Topol. Like every… Read More Covid-19 More on mRNA Vaccine Manufacturing 22 February, 2021 Here’s a good article from the Washington Post that updates some details that I talked about in this post on the lipids used in the mRNA vaccines and in this one about their overall manufacturing process. It focuses on Acuitas, who make the two proprietary lipids that are used in the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Actually, if… Read More The Central Nervous System How Antidepressants Work, At Last? 19 February, 2021 Over the years I’ve very much enjoyed being startled by the scientific literature, and there haven’t been many times when I’ve been more surprised than I was this morning. I’ve been making references on this blog for years about how we don’t even know how antidepressants work, but if this new paper is correct, then… Read More Covid-19 Coronavirus Variants: Down to the Details 18 February, 2021 It’s my impression that the pace of headlines and tweets, etc. about the many COVID-19 variants has increased recently (and it wasn’t exactly an unexplored topic before). Some of the coverage is just horse-race stuff (here comes this one, around the curve comes that one), but some of it is downright alarmist. And while I’m… Read More 1 2 3 ... » More From Science Translational Medicine Archive Current Table of Contents In the Pipeline About Science Translational Medicine Mission and Scope Editors and Advisory Boards Editorial Policies Information for Authors Information for Reviewers Access Policies Staff Contact Us Submit Recent Comments Ray on Drug Approvals Over the Last Ten Years Patrick on Drug Approvals Over the Last Ten Years Matt on Drug Approvals Over the Last Ten Years Marko on Early March Vaccine Thoughts Dan on Drug Approvals Over the Last Ten Years Categories "Me Too" Drugs (32) Academia (vs. Industry) (162) Aging and Lifespan (80) Alzheimer's Disease (149) Analytical Chemistry (187) Animal Testing (47) Autism (23) Biological News (377) Birth of an Idea (43) Blink &#8250 (5) Blog Housekeeping (287) Book Recommendations (37) Business and Markets (1,072) Cancer (421) Cardiovascular Disease (174) Chem/Bio Warfare (19) Chemical Biology (163) Chemical News (615) Clinical Trials (578) Closing Time (16) Covid-19 (111) Current Events (212) Diabetes and Obesity (156) Drug Assays (393) Drug Development (603) Drug Industry History (433) Drug Prices (157) General Scientific News (208) Graduate School (72) How Not to Do It (45) How To Get a Pharma Job (32) In Silico (192) Infectious Diseases (314) Inorganic Chemistry (18) Intelligent Design (10) Job Postings (1) Life As We (Don't) Know It (32) Life in the Drug Labs (363) Lowe's Laws of the Lab (7) Metaphors, Good and Bad (4) Natural Products (50) Odd Elements in Drugs (15) Patents and IP (170) Pharma 101 (15) Pharmacokinetics (115) Press Coverage (117) Recipes (25) Regulatory Affairs (276) Safety Warnings (24) Science Gifts (13) Snake Oil (117) The Central Nervous System (200) The Dark Side (258) The Scientific Literature (482) Things I Won't Work With (33) Things I'm Glad I Don't Do (8) Toxicology (210) Uncategorized (216) Who Discovers and Why (175) Why Everyone Loves Us (86) Archives Archives Select Month March 2021 (5) February 2021 (15) January 2021 (11) December 2020 (16) November 2020 (12) October 2020 (16) September 2020 (14) August 2020 (15) July 2020 (20) June 2020 (18) May 2020 (17) April 2020 (21) March 2020 (21) February 2020 (18) January 2020 (21) December 2019 (11) November 2019 (19) October 2019 (23) September 2019 (18) August 2019 (19) July 2019 (21) June 2019 (19) May 2019 (21) April 2019 (21) March 2019 (18) February 2019 (18) January 2019 (20) December 2018 (15) November 2018 (20) October 2018 (21) September 2018 (19) August 2018 (17) July 2018 (22) June 2018 (21) May 2018 (20) April 2018 (20) March 2018 (20) February 2018 (21) January 2018 (21) December 2017 (15) November 2017 (20) October 2017 (22) September 2017 (21) August 2017 (16) July 2017 (21) June 2017 (19) May 2017 (24) April 2017 (20) March 2017 (24) February 2017 (19) January 2017 (20) December 2016 (18) November 2016 (22) October 2016 (25) September 2016 (25) August 2016 (24) July 2016 (22) June 2016 (24) May 2016 (23) April 2016 (28) March 2016 (27) February 2016 (29) January 2016 (32) December 2015 (30) November 2015 (33) October 2015 (35) September 2015 (36) August 2015 (40) July 2015 (29) June 2015 (39) May 2015 (38) April 2015 (46) March 2015 (55) February 2015 (43) January 2015 (45) December 2014 (42) November 2014 (44) October 2014 (48) September 2014 (42) August 2014 (30) July 2014 (40) June 2014 (44) May 2014 (56) April 2014 (39) March 2014 (45) February 2014 (42) January 2014 (43) December 2013 (41) November 2013 (44) October 2013 (50) September 2013 (34) August 2013 (42) July 2013 (51) June 2013 (39) May 2013 (40) April 2013 (46) March 2013 (52) February 2013 (45) January 2013 (50) December 2012 (39) November 2012 (47) ...