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A Billion-Dollar Deal, Trial Trouble, Biohub Updates, and Vaccine Research News
In this week’s episode, we start with news that Fulcrum Therapeutics is scrapping its lead pipeline program for sickle cell disease following concerns from the FDA about the drug’s risks and benefits. Also on the docket, news of Eli Lilly’s latest spending. The pharma giant has added its genetic medicines pipeline and capabilities by signing a $1.9 billion agreement with Ascidian Therapeutics to develop RNA exon editors for treating inherited kidney diseases. Next up, updates to an open-source model for binder design and protein function mapping. Finally, on the peer-review front, we dive into some of the latest vaccine research including insights into the mechanisms that cross-reactive T cells use to target multiple viral species in a single family and an improvement to standard polio vaccines.
Listed below are links to the GEN stories referenced in this episode of Touching Base:
Fulcrum Halts Development of SCD Candidate Pociredir, Sets Strategic Review
By Alex Philippidis and Kevin Davies, PhD, GEN Edge, June 2, 2026
Lilly, Ascidian Launch Up-to-$1.9B RNA Exon Editor Collaboration Targeting Inherited Kidney Diseases
By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, June 3, 2026
Biohub Releases Protein Biology World Model to Address Disease
By Fay Lin, PhD, GEN Edge, May 27, 2026
Cross-Reactive T Cells Could Point to Broad Vaccines or Treatments for Measles, Nipah Virus
GEN, June 2, 2026
Experimental Adjuvant Could Strengthen Mucosal Immunity with Injectable Polio Vaccines
GEN, June 4, 2026
Touching Base Podcast
Hosted by Corinna Singleman, PhD
Behind the Breakthroughs
Hosted by Jonathan D. Grinstein, PhD
Produced with support from:
The post A Billion-Dollar Deal, Trial Trouble, Biohub Updates, and Vaccine Research News appeared first on GEN – Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.
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STAT+: Updated: Tracking RFK Jr.’s promises to remake health in America
Updated June 11, 2026
WASHINGTON — A pledge to “Make America Healthy Again” earned Robert F. Kennedy Jr. his job atop U.S. health agencies a year and some change ago. He’s now had the opportunity to turn his words into action, with mixed results.
“All one needs” to prove the health secretary’s attentiveness is to “review my unprecedented list of accomplishments on a wide range of issues, all of which I drove,” Kennedy posted on X on Wednesday in response to a journalist.
Updated June 11, 2026
WASHINGTON — A pledge to “Make America Healthy Again” earned Robert F. Kennedy Jr. his job atop U.S. health agencies a year and some change ago. He’s now had the opportunity to turn his words into action, with mixed results.
“All one needs” to prove the health secretary’s attentiveness is to “review my unprecedented list of accomplishments on a wide range of issues, all of which I drove,” Kennedy posted on X on Wednesday in response to a journalist.
Can any of the new obesity medications in development stand out from the pack? Which company just broke records with its IPO? And will the Food and Drug Administration allow greater access to experimental peptides?
We discuss all that and more on this week’s episode of “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast.
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RFK Jr. claims his calendar is publicly available. We’ve been trying to get it for a year
WASHINGTON — Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday pointed to his “publicly available calendar” as an example of his commitment to transparency and to beat back unfavorable reporting.
But no such calendar, detailing who Kennedy meets with or how he spends his time, has been released by the administration. STAT has been asking the Department of Health and Human Services for Kennedy’s calendar for more than a year, via Freedom of Information Act requests and emails to the press office.
WASHINGTON — Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday pointed to his “publicly available calendar” as an example of his commitment to transparency and to beat back unfavorable reporting.
But no such calendar, detailing who Kennedy meets with or how he spends his time, has been released by the administration. STAT has been asking the Department of Health and Human Services for Kennedy’s calendar for more than a year, via Freedom of Information Act requests and emails to the press office.
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STAT+: Updated: Tracking RFK Jr.’s promises to remake health in America
An obesity drug deep-dive, and peptides move mainstream
RFK Jr. claims his calendar is publicly available. We’ve been trying to get it for a year
Nonprofit buys experimental cancer drug to maintain patient access
Potential Cocaine Addiction Targets Identified Through Genetic Mapping in Rats
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Illinois’ financial crisis could bring the state to a halt
The final 6 ‘Game of Thrones’ episodes might feel like a full season
New Season 8 Walking Dead trailer flashes forward in time
Mod turns ‘Counter-Strike’ into a ‘Tekken’ clone with fighting chickens
Meet Superman’s grandfather in new trailer for Krypton
Disney’s live-action Aladdin finally finds its stars
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