Introduction A new breed of lab-coat-clad blockchain enthusiasts believes they can reinvent biomedical research. In decentralized science (“DeSci”), clinical trials go virtual, IP gets tokenized, and research is guided by DAO votes instead of boardroom decisions. It sounds radical – like replacing Big Pharma’s hierarchy with a Discord

Why Many Interventions Improve a Biomarker Without Altering the Underlying Condition Surrogate Markers vs True Outcomes Clinical research often relies on surrogate markers – laboratory values or imaging findings that stand in for actual clinical outcomes. Examples include tumor shrinkage or progression-free survival in cancer, blood glucose (HbA1c) levels in

The modern pharmaceutical and scientific job market, dear reader, has developed a peculiar affliction—no, not another variant, but something equally transmissible: credentialitis. A creeping malaise in which individuals collect certifications the way Victorians collected venereal diseases: with surprising enthusiasm and an air of scholarly pride. There is, of course,

It is not often that the bounds of acceptable discourse are described in terms of architecture. Yet the Overton Window—a tidy metaphor for the range of ideas considered palatable in public life—has quietly shaped not only politics, but science, finance, and the technological imagination. What is permissible to

10 Slides You'll Always See If you've been pitched by more than three biotech startups in your life, you’ve probably suffered from slide déjà vu—that uncanny sensation of seeing the same deck, over and over again, with only the logo swapped. Instead of complaining

Why constant reinvention is both vital—and a sign you may have no idea what you're doing Once upon a time, to pivot meant something rather graceful. Dancers did it. Basketball players did it. Generals, occasionally, did it—sometimes with disastrous consequences. In business, however, the pivot arrived

The second quarter of 2025 saw a surge in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, picking up momentum after a relatively subdued 2024. From March through June 2025, dealmaking accelerated across all tiers of the market – from small startup takeouts to multibillion-dollar buyouts.

It is a truth almost universally acknowledged—except, perhaps, in FDA review meetings—that no credible scientist gets funded anymore without first referencing Star Trek. Beam me up? More like bill me out. Flip phones? Inspired by Kirk. Tablets? Also Kirk. Diagnostic AI? McCoy had one strapped to his wrist

The decades-long puzzle of protein folding In the pantheon of scientific challenges, few have loomed as large or as stubborn as the protein folding problem. First posed in the 20th century, it asked how a mere string of amino acids — a one-dimensional sequence — can spontaneously contort into a

When a small Berlin startup launched an obesity therapy app a few years ago, investors hailed it as a potential game-changer. With slick design and AI coaching, it promised to slim waistlines and fatten venture returns. The app’s code worked beautifully – but the business case didn’t. Germany’