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8
Oct
2024

Call for Entries: Join the Timmerman Traverse for Damon Runyon Cancer Research

Are you ready for a bucket list adventure? Join me and a team of biotech executives and investors on the Timmerman Traverse for Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. It’s a trek to Everest Base Camp (17,600 feet) in April 2025. Who’s on the Team? Luke Timmerman, founder & editor, Timmerman Report (team captain) Soufiane Aboulhouda, co-founder and CEO, Nucleate Tamar...
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6
Oct
2024

What If You Can’t Pick Winners in R&D? 

Peter Thiel, the contrarian investor, had a favorite question for interviewees: “What important truth do few people agree with you on?” My answer: No one can pick winners in pharma R&D.  When I think of the most significant blockbusters in the industry involving novel mechanisms of action (follow-ons are a different story), I see a huge amount of luck on...
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17
Sep
2024

Sickle Cell Patient Cured With CRISPR Summits Kilimanjaro, Setting World Record

Four years after being functionally cured of sickle cell disease with a CRISPR gene-editing therapy, Jimi Olaghere has set a new world record for patients with this chronic and deadly disease. Olaghere, a 39-year-old business owner from Atlanta, became the world’s first patient with sickle cell disease to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro at 7:30 am Tanzania time on Sept....
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9
Sep
2024

The Enchantments Traverse: A Photo Gallery

The 4th annual Timmerman Traverse for Life Science Cares wrapped up last month, but I’m feeling a bit remiss for not telling the whole story. This year’s successful $1 million campaign came in two parts. First, there were a pair of back-to-back day hikes in the North Cascades with a team composed mostly of newcomers to the Life Science Cares...
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5
Sep
2024

Raising the Bar for Sickle Cell Patients: Ted Love and Alan Anderson on The Long Run

Today’s guests on The Long Run are Ted Love and Alan Anderson. Ted is the chairman of the board of directors at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. He’s perhaps best known for serving as CEO of Global Blood Therapeutics, the San Francisco Bay Area company that developed voxelotor (marketed as Oxbryta), a novel small molecule for sickle cell disease. The company...
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30
Aug
2024

Two New Books About Risk, Luck, and Skill Offer Insights For R&D Leaders

A central challenge of R&D, like many disciplines characterized by rare, outsized success, is how to think about risk, as well as the contributions of luck and skill.  Two new books – How To Become Famous, by Cass Sunstein, and On the Edge, by Nate Silver, offer valuable perspectives. I’ll also highlight several articles that provide additional relevant insight, including...
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5
Aug
2024

AI in Pharma: Can We Get Beyond “Assent Without Belief” By Channeling Ethan Mollick?

The phrase “assent without belief” has been used to describe the concept of going along with the outward manifestations of an ideology without true conviction. Most commonly, this is used to describe a familiar contemporary approach to religious observance.   It also seems to describe how the vast majority of biopharma colleagues view AI and other emerging digital and data technologies. ...
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17
Jul
2024

Attia and Kohane Examine What It Takes To Drive AI into Clinical Practice

Peter Attia is a prominent physician-turned-California longevity guru, and (to paraphrase Woody Allen) as California longevity gurus go, he’s one of the best, striving to remain grounded in science and data. Known for his popular book Outlive, and his affection for “rucking” (look it up), Attia is also the host of a long-form podcast called The Drive, and an engaging...
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