Dmitriy
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dmitriy.bsky.social
Dmitriy
@dmitriy.bsky.social
Researcher at the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), an independent nonprofit that analyzes the cost-effectiveness of drugs

Creator of Demography feed: https://tinyurl.com/bskydemo
Pinned
🧪Now that the Twitter exodus is in full force, I thought I'd create a curated list of researchers, journalists, and organizations working to strengthen scientific integrity and expose misconduct.

Please reach out for any additions/removals from the pack!

go.bsky.app/LC81roH
🧪Cytisinicline reduces symptoms of nicotine craving and withdrawal. If approved in June 2026, it will be the first new approved pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation in 20 years.
FDA Accepts New Drug Application for Cytisinicline for Smoking Cessation
Achieve Life Sciences gains FDA acceptance for cytisinicline, a promising new drug for smoking cessation, showing significant abstinence rates in trials.
www.psychiatrictimes.com
September 3, 2025 at 6:04 PM
🧪Once a Death Sentence, This Heart Condition Is Finally Treatable

A quiet revolution in care is helping patients with cardiac amyloidosis, a form of heart failure that long stumped doctors.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/w...
Once a Death Sentence, This Heart Condition Is Finally Treatable
www.nytimes.com
August 4, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Some uplifting 🧪news from the latest Cure SMA annual report:

The mortality rate of SMA in 2024 has dropped nearly 80% since 2014.

Why? Newborn screening = earlier treatment & 3 FDA-approved therapies.

ICER is currently reviewing a fourth therapy: icer.org/assessment/s...
April 2, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Reposted by Dmitriy
So pleased to be able to join Mike DiStefano and Wija Oortwijn to discuss #HTA activities in the context of serious affordability challenges. You should join us too!
January 22, 2025 at 6:02 PM
🧪This morning, ICER announces a new review of 4 spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) therapies. With widespread US newborn screening & improved patient longevity, we're eager to assess progress in this rapidly advancing field since our 2019 report. #healthpolicy

Draft scope below:
icer.org/wp-content/u...
icer.org
January 6, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Dmitriy
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review has identified 5 drugs with price increases not supported by new clinical evidence:
Biktarvy
Darzalex
Entresto
Cabometyx
Xeljanz
www.managedhealthcareexecutive.com/view/icer-id...
ICER Identifies 5 Drugs with Unsupported Price Increases
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review has identified five drugs — Biktarvy, Darzalex, Entresto, Cabometyx, and Xeljanz — with prices increases that are not supported by new clinical evidence,...
www.managedhealthcareexecutive.com
December 12, 2024 at 8:00 PM
🧪 Less than a month after four towering dams on the Klamath River were demolished, hundreds of salmon made it into waters they have been cut off from for decades to spawn in cool creeks
Salmon return to lay eggs in historic habitat after largest dam removal project in US history
Less than a month after four towering dams on the Klamath River were demolished, hundreds of salmon made it into waters they have been cut off from for decades to spawn in cool creeks.
buff.ly
November 23, 2024 at 4:53 PM
🧪A second drug for transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy just got approved a week early.

At $225K/year, it's more accessible than Pfizer's $268K Vyndaqel but still far exceeds ICER's recommended $13.6K-$39K range.

Big news for the 50,000+ patients in US, but pricing debate continues.
BridgeBio wins FDA approval for heart disease drug
The FDA approved a new medicine from BridgeBio for patients with ATTR-CM, a progressive heart disease
www.statnews.com
November 23, 2024 at 12:40 AM
🧪A survey of 879 U.S. healthcare professionals found:

Popular media (69.5%psilocybin, 61.8% MDMA) and academic literature (65.6%, 47.9%) were respondents’ main current sources of knowledge

Only 5.5% answered all 3 knowledge check questions correctly for psilocybin compared to just 1.1% for MDMA.
Knowledge, attitudes, and concerns about psilocybin and MDMA as novel therapies among U.S. healthcare professionals - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Knowledge, attitudes, and concerns about psilocybin and MDMA as novel therapies among U.S. healthcare professionals
www.nature.com
November 21, 2024 at 3:21 PM
🧪 People with MS often stop taking disease-modifying therapy as they transition from relapsing-remitting MS to secondary progressive MS. This study shows that people who stop stop therapy have higher hospitalization rates and more visits to the emergency room.
The Takeaway From Study of Midlife MS Patients: Don't Stop Disease-Modifying Therapy
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) often stop taking disease-modifying therapy as they transition from relapsing-remitting MS to secondary progressive MS. This study shows that people who stop stop…
buff.ly
November 20, 2024 at 10:44 PM
🧪Today is the 20 year anniversary of Google Scholar!

To celebrate the occasion, its two founders put together some fun facts related to the tool.

blog.google/outreach-ini...
20 things you didn’t know about Google Scholar
Google Scholar celebrates two decades of breaking down barriers to academic research and making it accessible to everyone, everywhere.
blog.google
November 20, 2024 at 7:48 PM
🧪 Experts found the Texas DFW area to be the third most dangerous for migrating birds. To help, the Lights Out team convinced downtown businesses to dim their lights, reducing confusion for birds. By Oct. 31, bird deaths dropped to 42, down from 110 last fall.
This city's businesses 'went dark' to reduce bird deaths — and it worked
A hotspot for bird migration, this region has now found success in reducing avian deaths, simply by turning off the lights.
buff.ly
November 20, 2024 at 5:44 PM
🧪In 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington, destroying everything nearby. Gophers helped restore the soil by spreading microbes. Their digging resulted in 40,000 new plants in six years, leading to a thriving forest today.
Gophers were given one day to revive Mount St. Helens — and their impact on its ecosystem has lasted decades
By unearthing microbes and fungi, these rodents helped save an ecosystem almost decimated by the eruption of Mount St. Helens.
buff.ly
November 19, 2024 at 5:50 PM
🧪 Washington state's voters upheld the Climate Commitment Act, a cap-and-trade law, by rejecting a repeal. This law has raised over $2 billion for clean transportation, clean energy, and climate adaptation efforts, with 62% voting to maintain it.
An attempt to repeal Washington's landmark climate law failed massively
"Every state legislator can now look to Washington and say, ‘This is a winning issue,’” Governor Jay Inslee told Grist.
buff.ly
November 18, 2024 at 5:44 PM
🧪 Breakthrough brings hope: 3 patients who were losing their sight can see again, thanks to innovative stem cell transplants. Vision improvements lasted over a year, with no severe side effects.
World-first stem-cell treatment restores vision in people
The treatment, given to four people with damaged corneas, seems safe but needs to be tested in larger trials.
buff.ly
November 17, 2024 at 5:44 PM
🧪Now that the Twitter exodus is in full force, I thought I'd create a curated list of researchers, journalists, and organizations working to strengthen scientific integrity and expose misconduct.

Please reach out for any additions/removals from the pack!

go.bsky.app/LC81roH
November 17, 2024 at 2:14 AM
🧪 Rwanda contained Marburg outbreak with 22.7% fatality - far lower than typical 90%. Key: high-quality healthcare, rapid tracing/testing, experimental treatments, infection control.
Rwanda also increased life expectancy by 20 years, from 47.5 in 2000 to 67.5 in 2021.
An 'unprecedented' good news story about a deadly viral outbreak
The death rate for Marburg virus can be as high as 90%. There are no approved vaccines and treatments. So how did Rwanda achieve what one doctor calls an "unprecedented" success in controlling its…
buff.ly
November 16, 2024 at 1:00 AM
🧪 Millets are making a comeback in India after declining in the 1960s. They are drought-resistant, nutritious, and help reduce emissions and water use compared to other crops. The Indian gov is promoting cultivation/consumption to address climate change and food security.
Millets Are Making a Comeback in India
These hardy, drought-resistant and nutritious grains disappeared from fields in the 1960s. Now, the country is working to revive them.
buff.ly
November 15, 2024 at 11:00 PM
🧪Female doctors had 2-3x higher survival rates for heart patients vs male docs. Up to 32K lives could be saved if male docs learned to treat women better. Cardiologist Marianne Legato and patient advocate Carolyn Thomas are working to fix this disparity.

buff.ly/4g7FVm3
The Slow, Powerful Work of Bridging the Women's Health Gap
Women are still underrepresented in medical research. But thanks to trailblazers like cardiologist Marianne Legato and patient advocate Carolyn Thomas, that's starting to change.
reasonstobecheerful.world
November 15, 2024 at 6:14 PM
🧪Antonia, a cloned black-footed ferret at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, has produced two healthy offspring that will help build genetic diversity in their recovering population

www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a...
A Cloned Ferret Has Given Birth for the First Time in History, Marking a Win for Her Endangered Species
Antonia, a cloned black-footed ferret at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, has produced two healthy offspring that will help build genetic diversity in their recoverin...
www.smithsonianmag.com
November 10, 2024 at 3:20 AM
The Eviction Lab at Princeton is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Assistant.

Apply here: puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/app...

#AcademicSky🧪
October 6, 2024 at 2:21 AM
🧪A new drug for schizophrenia was approved today!

KarXT was reviewed by ICER earlier this year:
icer.org/wp-content/u...
🧪
About 2.8 million Americans suffer from schizophrenia (~24 million worldwide), with large portion of non-responders to available therapies.

KarXT offers a new mechanism of action (acts on acetylcholine vs dopamine) and has fewer side effects.
Karuna submits schizophrenia drug for US approval
The drug’s success in two late-stage clinical trials has buoyed Karuna to a market valuation exceeding $6 billion.
www.biopharmadive.com
September 27, 2024 at 1:01 AM
Reposted by Dmitriy
A new study adds to a growing body of evidence that Parkinson’s disease, long believed to have its origins in the brain, may begin in the gut.
Parkinson’s may begin in the gut, study says, adding to growing evidence
Mucosal damage — an erosion, break or sore in the mucous lining of the GI tract — was associated with a 76 percent greater risk of developing Parkinson’s.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 5, 2024 at 7:28 PM
🧪Congressional leaders unveil $275M bipartisan bill to boost menopause research, training & awareness. Led by Sen. Patty Murray & backed by Halle Berry, the bill funds NIH grants, public campaign, clinician training & diagnosis/treatment for midlife women's health issues.
Senators, Halle Berry unveil $275 million bill to boost menopause care
Many physicians say they receive little training about menopause, which all women experience around mid-life.
www.washingtonpost.com
May 2, 2024 at 6:18 PM
🧪New dual-insecticide nets deployed through The Global Fund project prevented an estimated 13 million malaria cases and 24,600 deaths in sub-Saharan Africa by addressing growing mosquito resistance. 56 million next-gen nets reached people in 17 countries.
New Nets Prevent 13 Million Malaria Cases in Sub-Saharan Africa
The New Nets Project, an initiative funded by Unitaid and the Global Fund and led by the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC), piloted the use of dual-insecticide in malaria-endemic countries b...
www.theglobalfund.org
April 26, 2024 at 3:59 PM