Listen: Moderna v. NIH, psilocybin as a medicine, & the cultural intake of pharma CEOs

Who invented Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine? Can psychedelic medicines be mainstream? And who’s going to run the FDA?

We cover all that and more this week on “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. Rebecca Robbins of the New York Times joins us to discuss the escalating tension between Moderna and the National Institutes of Health over just who invented a Covid-19 vaccine. Then, STAT’s Olivia Goldhill calls in to explain Compass Pathways’ promising results using psilocybin as a treatment for depression and the future of the nascent field of psychedelic medicines. We also discuss the latest news in the life sciences, including pills for Covid-19, the next FDA commissioner, and whether Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla listens to Joe Rogan.

For more on what we cover, here’s the Moderna-NIH story; here’s more on Compass; here’s a deep dive on psychedelics; here’s the Bourla interview; here’s where you can subscribe to the First Opinion Podcast; and here’s our complete coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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And if you have any feedback for us — topics to cover, guests to invite, vocal tics to cease — you can email [email protected].

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