Rowan Walrath

The Chemical & Engineering News Guild has overwhelmingly won its union election, with 96% of participants voting in favor of unionization!

@wbng.org @newsguild.org

FDA says it wants individualized medicines. Can we get there? The agency has announced a new framework for approving rare disease drugs, but investors are still skeptical

With @laureloldach.bsky.social in @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...

"I think that there’s a lack of really trusting that this pathway that’s commercially viable for individualized medicine is really going to open up. If investors don’t believe in it, there are no companies in this space. The companies won’t last." Julia Vitarello, patient advocate and founder, EveryONE Medicines

The FDA recently described a new regulatory framework that would let personalized medicines with a “plausible mechanism” of action bypass randomized clinical trials.

But recent decisions about rare disease drug applications raise doubts about what the pathway means for patients.

#chemsky #biosky

FDA says it wants individualized medicines. Can we get there? The agency has announced a new framework for approving rare disease drugs, but investors are still skeptical

In light of FDA's recent announcement of new regulatory flexibility for individualized medicines that work through a "plausible mechanism," @rowanwalrath.bsky.social and I dug into what the agency is saying, what it's doing, and what's at stake for ppl w/ rare diseases.

cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...

FDA says it wants individualized medicines. Can we get there? The agency has announced a new framework for approving rare disease drugs, but investors are still skeptical

The FDA recently announced a new regulatory framework that would let personalized medicines with a “plausible mechanism” of action bypass randomized clinical trials.
For @cenmag.bsky.social, @rowanwalrath.bsky.social and @laureloldach.bsky.social dig into it

I haven't solved the epistemic crisis since we last talked, unfortunately

MAHA’s next target: metals in vaccine ingredients Officials are going after metal-containing ingredients, including aluminum adjuvants. Here’s why vaccines need them

My colleagues @rowanwalrath.bsky.social and @sarahbraner.bsky.social dug into what we know about how alum and related adjuvants stimulate immunity and why MAHA regulators are going after them.

cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...

US vaccine recommendations used to be based in science. Now it’s all vibes The Evidence to Recommendations framework ensured that the US vaccine schedule was scientifically sound. Then RFK Jr. abandoned it

In the past, the US Advisory Committee on Immunization practices used a detailed, scientific methodology to assess vaccine data before making a recommendation. Now that process “has completely been circumvented,” under RFK Jr. @rowanwalrath.bsky.social and I have the details for @cenmag.bsky.social.

Controversial US study on hepatitis B vaccines in Africa is cancelled $1.6m project drew outrage over ethical questions about withholding vaccines proven to prevent disease

Controversial US study on hepatitis B vaccines in Africa is cancelled. Story by @melodyschreiber.com www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

The essential chemistry newsletter. A concise weekly briefing from C&EN, covering the research, policy, and industry developments that matter most to chemists.

C&EN’s Weekly Newsletter has evolved. Meet C&EN Elements, redesigned to deliver the essential developments in chemistry across research, industry, and policy: connect.discoveracs.org/weeklynewsle...

#chemsky 🧪

Despite few big announcements at JPM, biotech investors optimistic Discussions not deals on the first day of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco

Discussions not deals on JPM day one: cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic... @cenmag.bsky.social #chemsky #biosky

Ensures that all the diseases covered by the previous immunization schedule will still be available to anyone who wants them through Affordable Care Act insurance plans and federal insurance programs, including Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Vaccines for Children program. Families will not have to purchase them out of pocket. Among peer nations, the U.S. will continue to offer the most childhood vaccines for free to those who want them.

Copy Editing Matters, from HHS's release on the new childhood vaccine schedule: All the diseases will still be available to anyone who wants them

Congratulations to the amazing C&EN staff!

As C&EN Advisory Board member, whose mission is to “provide insight, advice, and suggestions on how to best serve our audience and the world of chemistry”, I believe this is a good step toward a stronger magazine.

6 shots removed from US childhood vaccine recommendations Several immunizations now need a health-care provider’s endorsement

The new CDC schedule no longer universally recommends immunizations against meningitis, hepatitis A and B, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), rotavirus, COVID-19, and influenza.

cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...

Long live c&en and everyone who brings us quality stories about chemistry

#chemsky

New year, new union!

We’re forming @cenguild.bsky.social with @wbng.org so that everyone at C&EN—reporters, copy editors, production and operations staff, web and creative designers, multimedia producers, audience development—will have a voice in the direction of this magazine. ✊

new year, new union. heck yeah

New year, new unit! Workers at Chemical & Engineering News have formed a union with WBNG!

Read more here: wbng.org/2026/01/05/w...

Happy New Years! Here's to making sure that everyone at C&EN---from reporters to copyeditors to production staff---has a voice in the direction of our magazine!

Behold: the first-ever list of news outlets that have banned generative AI in their reporting. As of today, this is literally information that you cannot find on Google.

My goal is to fill the starter pack, so please send over suggestions with supporting evidence!

go.bsky.app/8cn1XfT

Well that was 2025 in Pharma, and what a year it turned out to be

FDA to update regulations after unconfirmed claims of Covid vaccine-linked death Announcement, and lack of details in the weeks following, represents major departure from previous FDA priorities

The FDA says more information about claims that Covid vaccines resulted in death - for children and adults - will be coming "soon." But experts say the delay has been "striking." My latest:
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

#ACIP Researched did, in fact, perform a randomized controlled trial when the FIRST hep B vaccine was approved in 1982. When an improved hep B was approved in 1986, researchers could not perform a placebo-controlled trial, because it would have been unethical to deny kids an effective vaccine.

Podcast: The ancient, ‘juicy’ origins of antibiotic resistance Hosts David and Gina endure environmental extremes to understand how resistance emerged—and how we’re fighting it

In this episode of Inflection Point, we travel back in time to relive three historical moments that led to our understanding of antibiotic resistance. @rowanwalrath.bsky.social offers a glimpse into a future when antibiotics are no longer effective. cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic... #chemsky 🧪

At MAHA Summit, the NIH head pushes for research that risks failure And 4 other takeaways for life scientists from the ‘off-the-record’ Make America Healthy Again conference

So, remember that MAHA summit 2 weeks ago that @statnews.com broke the news of and @maxkozlov.bsky.social somehow got into for Nature, even though it was closed to the press?

The organizers posted the entire 6.5-hour conference proceedings to YouTube last week.

cen.acs.org/policy/MAHA-...

Bitopertin was once a failed drug candidate gathering dust in Roche's portfolio. Thanks to work from Disc Medicine, FDA could soon approve it to treat a rare blood disorder. Read @rowanwalrath.bsky.social's excellent story in @cenmag.bsky.social.

How Disc Medicine rescued a discarded drug candidate Bitopertin could give people with the rare disease erythropoietic protoporphyria their day in the sun

How Disc Medicine rescued a discarded drug candidate cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic... @cenmag.bsky.social

Biotech markets aren't picking up just yet Despite some recent eye-catching deals, the financing environment is still sluggish

For the last 3 years, the story of the biotech financing environment has been much the same. Venture funding is slow, IPOs are few and far between. Mergers and acquisitions are beginning to pick up, but they tend to be smaller transactions: cen.acs.org/business/fin... #chemsky 🧪

How PostEra designs drugs from code The start-up is making antivirals and cancer drugs for Big Pharma—and working to treat reproductive problems on its own

PostEra, one of C&EN's #10StartupsToWatch, uses artificial intelligence and machine learning tools alongside medicinal chemistry to design new molecules. cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic... #chemsky 🧪