Good morning, everyone, and how are you today? We are doing just fine, thank you, despite a steady downpour that is making for a soggy feeling at the Pharmalot campus. Nonetheless, our spirits are sunny. How so? We will remind you of a favorite saying of the Morning Mayor: Every brand new day should be unwrapped like a precious gift. So while you tug on the ribbon, we will brew another cup of stimulation and forage for items of interest. Speaking of which, here are a few. Hope your journey goes well and, as always, do keep in touch. …
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) plans to team with some of the nation’s most prominent CRISPR researchers to use the gene-editing technology in a search for new drugs, establishing a new lab in San Francisco and spending up to $67 million over five years, STAT reports. Jennifer Doudna, the University of California, Berkeley, researcher who co-invented the CRISPR enzyme technology, will help lead the effort, along with Jonathan Weissman, a UC San Francisco researcher who has been using CRISPR to understand the function of individual human genes and how they work together.
President Trump offered to help the Department of Veterans Affairs negotiate the acquisition of a new Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) drug to treat depression, a treatment he believes could result in an “incredible” drop in veteran suicide, Bloomberg News says. “I think they’ll be very generous with you,” Trump told Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie during a meeting on opioid abuse. “And if you like, I’ll help you to negotiate.” Spravato is a close chemical cousin to the anesthetic ketamine. Some experts have raised concerns about long-term use and whether there was enough efficacy data for approval.
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One might observe that Mr Trump would be wiser to reserve his role in any negotiations to be “The Closer” – but then again, if he owns the process of the deal, mayhaps he will be less likely to call it “terrible” at the final moment? We shall see.