Luke Timmerman

America, my old conservative friend from a Mountain West state told me on the phone in April, can’t handle the pandemic. We’re soft, he said. Like the characters in the 2008 Pixar film “Wall-E,” he said, we’re sucking on our Slurpees and so drunk on cheap 24/7 entertainment that we can’t even stand on our own two feet anymore.  ... Read More

Catch up on the main events of the week in biotech with Frontpoints. The FDA issued a surprising approval – not another watered-down Emergency Use Authorization – to Gilead Sciences for remdesivir (Veklury) its antiviral against COVID-19. The antiviral, designed to stop the SARS-CoV-2 virus from copying itself, is now the first treatment fully approved by the FDA against this... Read More

It’s hard to tell yet whether the J&J vaccine and Eli Lilly antibody trials are suffering from momentary blips, or something more serious on the safety front. The AstraZeneca vaccine trial has been stuck on pause in the US since September, which seems like a rather lengthy delay in pandemic terms. Let’s hope they all get back in the saddle... Read More

What a time to be alive in biomedicine. Catch up on the main events in Frontpoints. The Babe Ruth of Public Health Speaks Out William Foege is in his mid-80s. There’s a genome sciences building at the University of Washington named after him because Bill Gates gave money to build it, and he wanted it named after a scientific hero.... Read More

Rummaging around in the garage can be about more than just tossing out junk. Going through old files lately, I found a printout from the Carnegie-Knight Task Force in 1997. That was the year I graduated from college and went to work as a local newspaper reporter. The task force, convened by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, was wrestling... Read More

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Science is under attack. The FDA and the CDC have seen their credibility tarnished, largely because of the relentless pressure, and lies, of certain political leaders. The pharmaceutical industry, built on a bedrock of science, knows darn well that the whole business will come crumbling down if the world continues indulging in this bottomless cynicism and nihilism that says everything... Read More

Credibility takes years to build. It can crumble in seconds. Repairs can take a lifetime. The FDA and the CDC are two of the American public health agencies that became global models of excellence after World War II. We should remember that, and perhaps the FDA and CDC should plaster it up on their walls as a reminder. Both agencies... Read More

Please subscribe and tell your friends why it’s worthwhile. Quality journalism costs money. When you subscribe to Timmerman Report at $169 per year, you reward quality independent biotech reporting, and encourage more.   Subscribe Now   Sign in to your account.