Horseshoe crab blood is vital for testing intravenous drugs, but new synthetic alternatives could mean pharma won't bleed this unique species dry

Horseshoe crabs play a unique role in medicine, but they’re also ecologically important in their home waters along the Atlantic coast. Can regulators balance the needs of humans and nature?

Jolie Crunelle, Master's Degree Student in Science, Technology, and Public Policy, Rochester Institute of Technology • conversation
Oct. 12, 2023 • ~10 min

'From Magic Mushrooms to Big Pharma' – a college course explores nature's medicine cabinet and different ways of healing

An anthropology course explores how peoples and cultures around the world use nature-based medicines to heal.

Heather McIlvaine-Newsad, Professor of Anthropology, Western Illinois University • conversation
June 9, 2023 • ~6 min

Antibiotic resistance is at a crisis point – government support for academia and Big Pharma to find new drugs could help defeat superbugs

If no action is taken to address antibiotic resistance, infections from multidrug-resistant bacteria could cause 10 million deaths each year by 2050.

Andre Hudson, Professor and Head of the Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences, Rochester Institute of Technology • conversation
Oct. 29, 2021 • ~9 min

New gene therapies may soon treat dozens of rare diseases, but million-dollar price tags will put them out of reach for many

New payment models may mean more of the people who need these treatments can get them.

Kevin Doxzen, Hoffmann Postdoctoral Fellow, Arizona State University • conversation
Aug. 31, 2021 • ~8 min

The FDA’s weak drug manufacturing oversight is a potentially deadly problem

COVID-19 has exacerbated a backlog of domestic and foreign drug manufacturing inspections that the FDA is still too short-staffed to adequately deal with.

C. Michael White, Distinguished Professor and Head of the Department of Pharmacy Practice, University of Connecticut • conversation
June 23, 2021 • ~9 min

The price of a drug should be based on its therapeutic benefits – not just what the market will bear

'Orphan drugs' with high price points are being tested as treatments for COVID-19. There's a better way to spur low-cost innovation for new drugs.

Nicole Hassoun, Professor of Philosophy, Binghamton University, State University of New York • conversation
Jan. 13, 2021 • ~9 min

Coronavirus: how the pharma industry is changing to produce a vaccine on time

Medical innovation is often accelerated in a time of crisis.

Stephen Morris, Research Fellow in Vaccine Process Analytics, UCL • conversation
Sept. 30, 2020 • ~8 min

Coronavirus vaccine search: how we're preparing to make enough for the whole world

The UK is investing heavily in preparation for mass manufacturing of a working COVID-19 vaccine.

Martina Micheletti, Professor of Bioprocess Fluid Dynamics, co-Director of the Future Vaccine Manufacturing Hub,, UCL • conversation
May 13, 2020 • ~8 min

Coronavirus vaccine: how we're preparing to make enough for the whole world

The UK is investing heavily in preparation for mass manufacturing of a working COVID-19 vaccine.

Martina Micheletti, Professor of Bioprocess Fluid Dynamics, co-Director of the Future Vaccine Manufacturing Hub,, UCL • conversation
May 13, 2020 • ~8 min

Medical supply chains are fragile in the best of times and COVID-19 will test their strength

Drug shortages occur regularly in the US, even in the best of times. The pharmaceutical supply chain embodies 'just in time' shipping and has little built-in redundancy.

Mark Daskin, Professor of Industrial and Operations Engineering, University of Michigan • conversation
March 25, 2020 • ~7 min

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