| | | |   | Meghana here, inviting you to join STAT on May 3 for an in-person event that will take you behind some of the most important drug discovery stories of our time: the development of remdesivir, the story of the Moderna Covid vaccine, the advent of AI as a drug discovery tool, and the story of a mother and scientist’s quest to develop a treatment for a rare and deadly disease. Get your ticket now. | | | First peek at Nkarta’s off-the-shelf NK cell therapies Two off-the-shelf cancer therapies made by Nkarta out of engineered natural killer cells induced complete responses in patients with blood cancers. In one trial, three of five patients with acute myeloid leukemia achieved complete remission — with two showing zero evidence of residual disease. In another study, three of six patients with advanced lymphoma achieved complete responses. There were no reports of the severe immune or neurological side effects typically seen in CAR-T therapies. “This is an early-stage trial setting and all the caveats that go with it, but our pipeline is showing consistency in terms of safety, efficacy, and durability,” Nkarta CEO Paul Hastings said. Read more. | Are the new ADHD therapies an improvement? There’s a new generation of treatments for ADHD: two new drugs, a nerve stimulation device, and a prescription video game. But are these drugs and treatments any more effective than the stimulants that have long been used to treat the condition? Unfortunately, there isn’t much research that compares new and old ADHD therapies head to head — so it’s hard to know. “As we think about all these new products hitting the market, we should be aware that there is a fairly established armamentarium of options that work very well,” said one pediatrician who conducted a study comparing various ADHD treatments. She found that most approved drugs have only been compared to placebo, and not with each other, and that the trials generally lacked long-term follow-ups. Read more. | How a biotech startup is using AI tools to redefine how they approach clinical development Artificial Intelligence is transforming the way small biotechs are scaling their businesses. In our latest case study of Feldan Therapeutics, we show how STAT Trials Pulse has become a game-changer for them, helping accelerate data-gathering, better analyze their competitors, and streamline their operations. Read the case. | Diversifying Boston’s biotech explosion Boston’s biotech footprint is ever-expanding, but the workforce development opportunities for people of color remain a major concern, an op-ed in the Boston Globe posits. Black and Hispanic workers make up 28% of the U.S. workforce, but only 17% of STEM employees. Possible ways to increase diversity include creating apprenticeships and internships, and giving young students of color guidance on how to apply for them. Mentorship programs are especially important. Real estate developers should also consider this: Anti-displacement measures in Black and Brown neighborhoods could help allow a more diverse subset of people to access jobs in the biotech sector. “If the expansion of economic opportunities in STEM fields does not make its way to Black and Brown communities, it’s just a further roadblock on the way to economic empowerment and to Boston’s aspirations as a global model of economic equity,” the authors say. | What will biotech employment look like in this market? After the Covid-adjacent biotech boom of 2020 and 2021, this year has offered a harsh course correction — with tightening markets and an upswing in regulatory scrutiny. Biotech employees are understandably anxious, and many questions about the workforce are swirling, a new blog post at LifeSciVC points out. Will there continue to be competition for talent? Will potential hires prefer equity or cash? And will compensation inflation continue as it has? It’ll take time to work these details out and figure out where the sector goes from here, from an employment perspective, suggests Andrea DiMella, VP and head of talent at Atlas Venture. Each company, and individual, will handle these changes differently — so it will come down to maintaining flexibility, keeping an open mindset, and valuing substance over hype to weather what’s ahead. | More reads - With 200 million unused doses, AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine partner Serum Institute halts production. (FiercePharma)
- Scynexis builds out case for its antifungal in the hospitalized setting, but investors don’t seem happy. (Endpoints)
| Thanks for reading! Until tomorrow,  | | | |
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