obituary

The ‘B side’ of James Watson’s record

Markus Schreiber/AP

James Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, died last week at age 97. His passing marks the end of an era in biology that some called “the eighth day of creation.” But the record of Watson’s life had a B side: a long, outspoken history of racism and sexism that made the Nobel Prize winner a scientific outcast by the end of his life. If you read anything from this newsletter, I urge you to read Sharon Begley’s masterful remembrance of Watson, which draws on oral history, public statements, and interviews with people who knew him for decades. 

One key insight: Watson’s career was marked by a transcendent discovery driven more by an intuitive ability to identify big, important scientific problems than a detailed understanding of molecular biology. In time, he learned to trust his gut about race and IQ, frequently arguing without evidence that people of African ancestry are less intelligent than other races. “The man who co-discovered the double helix, perhaps not surprisingly, regarded DNA as the ultimate puppet master, immeasurably more powerful than the social and other forces that lesser (much lesser) scientists studied,” Begley wrote.

Read more from Begley’s story, which she pre-wrote before her own passing in 2021.

obesity

Is a White House deal with obesity drugmakers a game-changer? It’s complicated

President Donald Trump has touted a deal with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly to make their powerful weight loss therapies available to more patients at lower prices. But the true impact of the deal will depend on a number of factors, writes STAT’s Elaine Chen. The agreement would make the Novo and Lilly drugs, Wegovy and Zepbound, available to more Medicare beneficiaries for a monthly copay of $50, less than the typical out-of-pocket cost for this class of treatments currently. But it’s unclear whether prices for these drugs will also go down for people with commercial insurance, experts warn.

Observers also point out that the White House’s plan to sell these drugs directly to patients through the administration’s TrumpRx platform may not actually be that affordable, since many patients may still need to pay $450 to $500 a month for the therapies. Another looming question: Would these companies have lowered prices anyway? “I don't think they would enter into an arrangement that would make them materially worse off than they anticipate that they will be,” said Benedic Ippolito, a senior fellow in economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Read more.

Matters of the heart

Amgen and Merck report positive results for cholesterol-lowering drugs

About 1 in 10 Americans over 20 has high cholesterol, which comes with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. That’s despite the availability of statins, a class of drugs that became the best-selling medicines in the world. At the American Heart Association meeting in New Orleans this weekend, STAT’s Liz Cooney reported on data from two pharma giants taking a different tack to control cholesterol — targeting PCSK9, a protein that controls levels of LDL, or “bad” cholesterol.

Amgen presented data showing that its injectable medicine, Repatha, lowered first heart attacks by 36% in people with high cholesterol but no history of serious cardiovascular events. The drug has been on the market for nearly a decade, but it’s the first time anyone has shown a PCSK9 drug can prevent first heart attacks, Jay Bradner, Amgen’s executive vice president of research and development, told Cooney.

Meanwhile, Merck is working on what it believes could be a more convenient option for patients: oral PCSK9 inhibitors. The company shared that its experimental drug, enlicitide, reduced LDL cholesterol by up to 60% and that the therapy was as well tolerated as a placebo. An ongoing late-stage trial is tracking whether treatment translates into better cardiovascular outcomes.