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Rowan Walrath

@rowanwalrath.bsky.social

760 followers 1K following 140 posts

Associate editor, life sciences reporter @cenmag.bsky.social. Texan Bostonian. she/her. [email protected]. For sensitive tips, I'm on Signal @rowanwalrath.01 or email [email protected]

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Rowan Walrath @rowanwalrath.bsky.social · Nov 18

👋 I cover biotech and pharma for @cenmag.bsky.social from Boston.

Interested in finance & market news, drug development for rare & neglected diseases, & how government/policy shapes biotech. Among other things.

My last cover story was about the sorry state of R&D for #LongCovid pharmaceuticals.

R&D for long COVID is collapsing

Public and private funding is lacking, scrambling opportunities to develop treatments

cen.acs.org

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Reposted by Rowan Walrath

Sarah Karlin-Smith @sarahkarlin-smith.bsky.social · 3h

Makary and this HHS seemed interested in going back to in person dispensing. this is a space to watch here…

Garnet Henderson @garnethenderson.com · 3h

NEW: It’s… another abortion pill lawsuit against the FDA, this time filed by Louisiana and an individual plaintiff, who argue the FDA should reinstate an in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone.

And if you guess Alliance Defending Freedom might be involved here, you guessed correctly.

Louisiana et al v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration et al 6:2025cv01491 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana | Justia

Other Statutes: Administrative Procedures Act/Review or Appeal of Agency Decision case filed on October 3, 2025 in the Louisiana Western District Court

dockets.justia.com

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Rowan Walrath @rowanwalrath.bsky.social · 2d

I wrote about Invivyd's strategy here last month in
@cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...

Monoclonal antibody maker sees opportunity as COVID-19 vaccines fall off

Invivyd is developing drugs meant to stave off the worst outcomes of the virus

cen.acs.org

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Rowan Walrath @rowanwalrath.bsky.social · 2d

Invivyd is launching a trial that will pit its COVID-prevention antibody head to head against mRNA vaccines investors.adagiotx.com/news-release...

Invivyd Announces U.S. IND Clearance and Alignment with U.S. FDA on Pivotal Clinical Program for VYD2311, a Vaccine-Alternative Antibody to Prevent COVID | Invivyd

The DECLARATION (safety and efficacy vs. placebo) and LIBERTY (exploratory safety head-to-head and combination with mRNA-based COVID vaccination) clinical trials are expected to begin around year-end ...

investors.adagiotx.com

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Reposted by Rowan Walrath

C&EN (Chemical & Engineering News) @cenmag.bsky.social · 2d

Immunity researchers win the 2025 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine

Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi receive the prize for understanding how the immune system is kept in check. Read more: cen.acs.org/people/nobel...

#chemsky #immunosky 🧪

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Laura Howes @laurahowes.bsky.social · 6d

And if you missed it, the recording and our recap is now live
Huge thanks to Prachi Patel for her help behind the scenes #chemnobel

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Alex Knapp @thealexknapp.bsky.social · 6d

After months on administrative leave, four NIH directors have been fired.

www.science.org/content/arti...

After months in limbo, four NIH institute directors fired

Two leaders removed by Trump administration had hoped to stay at agency as in-house investigators

www.science.org

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Reposted by Rowan Walrath

Laura Howes @laurahowes.bsky.social · 7d

“It started in a pub in Ireland, like all good ideas.”

@rowanwalrath.bsky.social talks to Jack O’Meara about his new #biotech start-up, Aerska, for @cenmag.bsky.social

Start-up to use ‘shuttles’ to get RNAi into the brain

With $21 million, Aerska plans to treat neurodegenerative diseases

cen.acs.org

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Reposted by Rowan Walrath

Mark Payne @markpaynewrite.bsky.social · 7d

New: The civil rights office at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is moving to cut off Harvard University from future funding, a maneuver legal experts say could stymie healthcare and biomedical research. www.law360.com/healthcare-a...

HHS Moves To Suspend Harvard From Funding - Law360 Healthcare Authority

The civil rights office at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is moving to cut off Harvard University from future funding, a maneuver legal experts say could stymie healthcare and biomed...

www.law360.com

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Reposted by Rowan Walrath

anil oza @aniloza.bsky.social · 8d

2 weeks ago RFK's ACIP voted to change recommendations for Covid vaccines

The CDC director has yet to sign off on them, so states aren't able to order vaccines through the vaccines for children program (which covers ~50% of kids)

w/ @chelseacirruzzo.bsky.social

www.statnews.com/2025/09/30/c...

Low-income children lack access to Covid vaccines because of approval delay

Two weeks after vaccine advisers approved new Covid recs, Kennedy still hasn’t given his approval, leaving states unable to order updated shots for low-income kids.

www.statnews.com

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Reposted by Rowan Walrath

C&EN (Chemical & Engineering News) @cenmag.bsky.social · 17d

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended that only people 65 and older and those with an underlying medical condition get updated COVID-19 vaccines. cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic... #chemsky 🧪

CDC committee endorses restrictions on COVID-19 vaccines

The recommendations would limit shots to people 65 and older and those with health conditions

cen.acs.org

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Reposted by Rowan Walrath

C&EN (Chemical & Engineering News) @cenmag.bsky.social · 16d

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted Sept. 18 to no longer recommend a combination vaccine that covers measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) and varicella. cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic... #chemsky 🧪

CDC advisers endorse changes to MMR, varicella vaccine schedules

The panel elected not to recommend a combination vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella as well as varicella, also known as chicken pox

cen.acs.org

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Reposted by Rowan Walrath

Laura Howes @laurahowes.bsky.social · 14d

It gets earlier every year... Next Wednesday, join me and an expert panel to discuss who might win the 2025 #ChemNobel. Free to attend.

Date: Wednesday, October 1, 2025
Time: 2–3 PM ET

Register here: lnkd.in/eD8cdWRS

A web page asking who will win the #chemnobel?

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Reposted by Rowan Walrath

betsy ladyzhets 😷 @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social · 20d

Getting ready to watch the livestream; it seems to be starting a few minutes late. I can't promise a full live blog but will do my best to share major updates here (while @mileswgriffis.bsky.social and I also work on our write-up).

betsy ladyzhets 😷 @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social · 20d

Just announced: HHS Secretary RFK Jr. is hosting two "roundtable discussions" about Long COVID tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET. @thesicktimes.org will be covering the event and reactions from the Long COVID community. (Reach out if you'd like to send us comments during or after!)

Screenshot of text:
MEDIA ADVISORY—FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY

Livestream: Secretary Kennedy Convenes ‘Leading the Way on Long COVID’ Roundtables

WASHINGTON—SEPTEMBER 17, 2025— Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will lead two roundtable discussions to drive actionable steps against Long COVID in the United States — one focused on patient experiences and the other on research. The event underscores the Trump Administration’s commitment to confronting the “invisible illnesses” that affect millions of Americans.

WHO:

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary

NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya

U.S. Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS)

U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-IN)

Congressman Jack Bergman (R-MI)

Additional patients, providers, medical professionals, and others researching, treating, and who have been affected by Long COVID.

WHEN:

Thursday, September 18 at 2 pm ET

WHERE:

The event is not open to the public but press and the public are invited to watch the event livestream on HHS.gov, X, YouTube, and Facebook.

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Reposted by Rowan Walrath

Sarah Karlin-Smith @sarahkarlin-smith.bsky.social · 21d

Senate HELP hearing with fired CDC Director Monarez and ex-CDC leader Debra Houry getting started.

www.help.senate.gov/hearings/res...

Restoring Trust Through Radical Transparency: Reviewing Recent Events at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Implications for Children’s Health | The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Ed...

Full Committee Hearing on September 17, 2025 at 6:00 AM

www.help.senate.gov

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Rowan Walrath @rowanwalrath.bsky.social · 23d

And be sure to read through the rest of the package, ably edited by my colleagues @mannyfoxmorone.bsky.social and @kvasquez.bsky.social, featuring how chemists with disabilities are reimagining the discipline: cen.acs.org/people/profi...

Trailblazers: Chemists with disabilities rethink how we do science

C&EN’s 2025 Trailblazers issue, curated by guest editor Mona Minkara, looks at how chemists can solve problems in new ways

cen.acs.org

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Rowan Walrath @rowanwalrath.bsky.social · 23d

Read my profile of Mylin in @cenmag.bsky.social's annual Trailblazers feature: cen.acs.org/physical-che...

Artur Mylin uses science to help Ukraine in wartime

This physical chemist shifted from catalysis to combat to defense research

cen.acs.org

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Rowan Walrath @rowanwalrath.bsky.social · 23d

“I view chemistry not only as a scientific discipline but as a tool to serve people and support the technological and ecological future of Ukraine,” Mylin says.

Rowan Walrath @rowanwalrath.bsky.social · 23d

Now, equipped with a prosthetic leg, Mylin is back in the lab. He's tinkering with new ways to help the Ukrainian war effort from afar, like explosives that can be produced from accessible ingredients like bioalcohols.

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Rowan Walrath @rowanwalrath.bsky.social · 23d

—until he lost the lower portion of his right leg to a mine blast.

Rowan Walrath @rowanwalrath.bsky.social · 23d

Mylin, a physical chemist and research scientist at the Institute for Sorption and Problems of Endoecology at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, set his catalysis research aside to become a foot soldier in the Ukrainian army—

Rowan Walrath @rowanwalrath.bsky.social · 23d

It was 2022, and Russia had just invaded Ukraine, marking a major escalation in a conflict between the two countries that had been simmering since 2014.

Rowan Walrath @rowanwalrath.bsky.social · 23d

Artur Mylin was unfazed when his friend called him in the middle of the night to tell him that the war had begun.

Artur Mylin wears a lab coat and stands for a portrait in an orderly lab space. He stands on one natural leg and one prosthetic leg and holds a cane. An array of flasks, some with stoppers and others without, are on the counter behind him and on the shelves above him. The brown, tiled floor alternates in a pattern of squares, diamonds, and eight-pointed stars.

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Reposted by Rowan Walrath

Apoorva Mandavilli @apoorvanyt.bsky.social · 26d

At next week’s meeting of the federal vaccine committee, the FDA plans to present data linking birth defects and deaths in children to the Covid vaccine
With @by-cjewett.bsky.social
(Gift article)

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/12/h...

F.D.A. Reviews Cases of Covid Vaccine Deaths

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Rowan Walrath

Sarah Karlin-Smith @sarahkarlin-smith.bsky.social · 26d

Kudos to the post for beating me to this. Finishing up a story on this today. Have been digging into the legality of situation & its scary that there aren't a lot of protections in place to stop presentation & actions on bad data like this that contradicts CDC info.

Trump officials to link child deaths to covid shots, alarming career scientists

The move to link coronavirus vaccines to 25 child deaths alarms career scientists who say the shots have been extensively studied.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Rowan Walrath

Alex Wayne @aawayne.bsky.social · 26d

NEWS: Pretty wild exclusive from @arthurallen202.bsky.social -- Trump's team wants to abandon the whole FDA system of having outside experts review the evidence for new drugs and devices.

They maintain releasing "complete response letters" is more transparent.

kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Under Trump, FDA Seeks To Abandon Expert Reviews of New Drugs - KFF Health News

Advisory committee meetings help FDA scientists make decisions and increase public understanding of drug regulation, and abandoning them doesn’t make sense, former officials said.

kffhealthnews.org

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