Verge writer Victoria Song reviews the fallout from Nathan Fielder's documentary 'You Can See Everything,' noting that journalists and whistleblowers have used its release to re-highlight Elizabeth Holmes' documented lies about Theranos' blood-testing device. Song explains that the startup's core promise—accurate diagnostic results from a single finger-prick blood drop—was scientifically unworkable, citing issues like cell rupture, contamination, and sample dilution with interstitial fluid.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-28
MIT Technology Review published a special 'Impossible' issue evaluating six long-promised technologies, from exercise pills to nuclear-powered spacecraft, asking experts what progress has been made and what still blocks them. Separately, biotech columnist Jessica Hamzelou wrote about attending a screening of a documentary on Elizabeth Holmes, using it to question the limits of science journalism's ability to fully verify claims. The outlet also asked subscribers to vote on the next topic for its Roundtables discussion series.
technologyreview.com
· 2026-10-23
OpenAI announced Tuesday it has acquired Orchestra Bio, a four-year-old startup that builds AI agents to help biotech firms manage drug discovery operations, including finances and clinical trial scheduling. Deal terms were not disclosed, though Orchestra had reportedly raised about $20 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Atria, and 8VC. OpenAI plans to fold Orchestra's team and technology into Rosalind, its life sciences AI model, and the Rosalind Workbench tool used by customers such as Moderna and Novo Nordisk.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-20
Germany's Merck has agreed to buy UK-based Silence Therapeutics, offering $20 in cash per American depositary share. The offer represents more than double Silence Therapeutics' closing share price as of the prior Friday.
wsj.com
· 2026-10-19
Renee Wegrzyn, former director of the federal health research agency ARPA-H, has founded a new startup called Transfyr. The company uses AI to help translate laboratory medical breakthroughs into usable, commercially viable technologies, addressing what Wegrzyn calls science's 'magic hands' problem—where discoveries fail to leave the lab because they can't be replicated or scaled.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-14
Argenx announced the suspension of a late-stage clinical trial for its autoimmune treatment, Vyvgart, citing insufficient efficacy. The company's shares declined sharply, erasing all gains made earlier in the year.
wsj.com
· 2026-10-08
A Boston Consulting Group analysis found that of 140 in vivo CAR-T-cell drugs currently being tested in animals or humans worldwide, 82% originate from Chinese developers, even though most early preclinical research came from the US and Germany. Researchers note China has moved unusually fast in pushing these therapies into clinical trials, with early results from at least one human trial for an autoimmune condition described as promising.
nature.com
· 2026-09-28
Boston Longevity Week, an 11-day series of events including biomarker conferences, an AI hackathon and an investor pitch night with over 30 venture firms, culminates in a Translational Longevity Summit. The event's organizers argue the longevity field's core challenge isn't a lack of innovation or even regulation, but a failure to translate promising research into validated, clinically usable treatments.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-09-18
Researchers at Collaborations Pharmaceuticals found their AI drug-discovery tool could generate 40,000 potentially toxic chemical warfare molecules in under six hours, some more lethal than known nerve agents. The finding, first reported in 2022, is now cited by biosecurity experts as evidence that AI systems and increasingly accessible gene-editing tools could lower the barrier to creating dangerous biological or chemical agents.
technologyreview.com
· 2026-09-18
Researchers led by Stanford computer scientist James Zou built a system called Virtual Biotech, using up to 37,000 AI agents modeled like departments of a biotech company, overseen by a 'chief scientific officer' agent. After analyzing thousands of past clinical trials, the AI swarm flagged an immune-dampening protein as a target and, with human guidance, proposed a candidate treatment for lung cancer, detailed in a new Science paper.
nature.com
· 2026-09-17
Montana has enacted SB535, a law that extends right-to-try provisions by allowing physicians to administer treatments that have cleared FDA Phase 1 trials outside formal clinical trials, provided a state-registered review board approves the protocol and care is delivered at a licensed clinic. Unlike federal right-to-try or expanded access rules, the Montana law permits sponsors and clinics to charge patients for these treatments, addressing what backers call the core funding gap facing biotech firms after early trials.
news.ycombinator.com
· 2026-09-16
Investors are reportedly re-entering rare-disease drug stocks after the departure of stricter FDA regulators under the Trump administration. The shift in agency leadership has reduced concerns about tougher approval hurdles that had previously discouraged investment in this biotech segment.
wsj.com
· 2026-09-16
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