Félix Balazard
@felixbalazard.bsky.social
Clinical trial optimization at Owkin
Reposted by Félix Balazard
Honoured to receive the 25th Anniversary MRC Millenium Medal. My mid-1980s epidemiological apprenticeship was at the MRC Epidemiology Unit in Cardiff in the mid-1980s, and my senescence with the MRC IEU, closing in March 2028
🙏 MRC!
@ukri.org @uob-ieu.bsky.social
www.ukri.org/news/mrc-mil...
🙏 MRC!
@ukri.org @uob-ieu.bsky.social
www.ukri.org/news/mrc-mil...
November 14, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Honoured to receive the 25th Anniversary MRC Millenium Medal. My mid-1980s epidemiological apprenticeship was at the MRC Epidemiology Unit in Cardiff in the mid-1980s, and my senescence with the MRC IEU, closing in March 2028
🙏 MRC!
@ukri.org @uob-ieu.bsky.social
www.ukri.org/news/mrc-mil...
🙏 MRC!
@ukri.org @uob-ieu.bsky.social
www.ukri.org/news/mrc-mil...
Reposted by Félix Balazard
@ultimagenomics signs big deal with @myheritageofficial.bsky.social
October 18, 2025 at 7:31 PM
@ultimagenomics signs big deal with @myheritageofficial.bsky.social
Reposted by Félix Balazard
We all need some good news
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
“The revolutionary HIV prevention tool, injectable lenacapavir, will be available at a cost of US$40 a year in 120 low- and middle-income countries starting in 2027”
@unitaid.bsky.social CHAI Wits RHI
unitaid.org/news-blog/le...
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
“The revolutionary HIV prevention tool, injectable lenacapavir, will be available at a cost of US$40 a year in 120 low- and middle-income countries starting in 2027”
@unitaid.bsky.social CHAI Wits RHI
unitaid.org/news-blog/le...
Unitaid, CHAI, and Wits RHI enter into a landmark agreement with Dr. Reddy’s to make HIV prevention tool lenacapavir affordable in LMICs - Unitaid
unitaid.org
September 24, 2025 at 12:23 PM
We all need some good news
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
“The revolutionary HIV prevention tool, injectable lenacapavir, will be available at a cost of US$40 a year in 120 low- and middle-income countries starting in 2027”
@unitaid.bsky.social CHAI Wits RHI
unitaid.org/news-blog/le...
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
“The revolutionary HIV prevention tool, injectable lenacapavir, will be available at a cost of US$40 a year in 120 low- and middle-income countries starting in 2027”
@unitaid.bsky.social CHAI Wits RHI
unitaid.org/news-blog/le...
Reposted by Félix Balazard
In the 1970s, it took 8,000 pounds of pancreas glands from 23,500 animals just to make a single pound of insulin.
100 years of insulin in 15 minutes
open.spotify.com
September 18, 2025 at 8:05 PM
In the 1970s, it took 8,000 pounds of pancreas glands from 23,500 animals just to make a single pound of insulin.
Reposted by Félix Balazard
Roche SBX very high throughout NGS instrument is about to disrupt the short reads sequencing space. But is the data quality good enough? Read all about it at albertvilella.substack.com
September 14, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Roche SBX very high throughout NGS instrument is about to disrupt the short reads sequencing space. But is the data quality good enough? Read all about it at albertvilella.substack.com
Reposted by Félix Balazard
This makes me wonder about the premiums we pay on other Sigma products.
Take advantage of the web-only promotion !
Take advantage of the web-only promotion !
September 12, 2025 at 6:48 PM
This makes me wonder about the premiums we pay on other Sigma products.
Take advantage of the web-only promotion !
Take advantage of the web-only promotion !
Reposted by Félix Balazard
I could have sworn I created this before on our Previous Parish, but couldn't find it so made it fresh.
I present:
OUR BLESSED mixed models // THEIR BARBAROUS fixed effects
I present:
OUR BLESSED mixed models // THEIR BARBAROUS fixed effects
September 9, 2025 at 1:49 PM
I could have sworn I created this before on our Previous Parish, but couldn't find it so made it fresh.
I present:
OUR BLESSED mixed models // THEIR BARBAROUS fixed effects
I present:
OUR BLESSED mixed models // THEIR BARBAROUS fixed effects
Reposted by Félix Balazard
A reminder that the mRNA vaccine technology saved millions of lives during the Covid pandemic and received the 2023 Nobel Prize for Medicine
August 10, 2025 at 12:26 AM
A reminder that the mRNA vaccine technology saved millions of lives during the Covid pandemic and received the 2023 Nobel Prize for Medicine
Reposted by Félix Balazard
Here's our attempt, which was (at minimum) much more transparent than the earlier Bayer and Amgen reports: elifesciences.org/collections/...
Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology
Investigating reproducibility in preclinical cancer research.
elifesciences.org
August 8, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Here's our attempt, which was (at minimum) much more transparent than the earlier Bayer and Amgen reports: elifesciences.org/collections/...
Reposted by Félix Balazard
Pasteurisation: Pasteur's greatest contribution to health
"the heat treatment of liquid food products (e.g. milk), including eggs, remains Pasteur's most significant legacy as a service to the world"
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
"the heat treatment of liquid food products (e.g. milk), including eggs, remains Pasteur's most significant legacy as a service to the world"
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Pasteurisation: Pasteur's greatest contribution to health
December, 2022, marks the 200th year of Louis Pasteur's birth in Dole, France. Among
Pasteur's major contributions and their benefit to society, the most important is
the heat treatment of foods and b...
www.thelancet.com
August 8, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Pasteurisation: Pasteur's greatest contribution to health
"the heat treatment of liquid food products (e.g. milk), including eggs, remains Pasteur's most significant legacy as a service to the world"
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
"the heat treatment of liquid food products (e.g. milk), including eggs, remains Pasteur's most significant legacy as a service to the world"
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Reposted by Félix Balazard
Terence Tao (@teorth.bsky.social) has written a thread on Mastodon about the impact of the federal grant freeze to UCLA, particularly to his own field of Mathematics. UCLA's IPAM (Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics) could shut down entirely
mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1149568...
mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1149568...
Terence Tao (@tao@mathstodon.xyz)
The current administration in the US has, through various funding agencies such as the NSF and NIH, has recently suspended virtually all federal grants to my home university, UCLA (including my own p...
mathstodon.xyz
August 2, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Terence Tao (@teorth.bsky.social) has written a thread on Mastodon about the impact of the federal grant freeze to UCLA, particularly to his own field of Mathematics. UCLA's IPAM (Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics) could shut down entirely
mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1149568...
mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1149568...
Reposted by Félix Balazard
Sanofi to acquire Vicebio for $1.15 billion upfront to expand #respiratory vaccines pipeline
Vicebio is a London-based #biotech with an early clinical-stage non-mRNA combination #vaccine candidate for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (hMPV)
www.sanofi.com/en/media-roo...
Vicebio is a London-based #biotech with an early clinical-stage non-mRNA combination #vaccine candidate for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (hMPV)
www.sanofi.com/en/media-roo...
Press Release: Sanofi to acquire Vicebio, expanding respiratory vaccines pipeline
<p>Sanofi to acquire Vicebio, expanding respiratory vaccines pipeline Paris, July 22, 2025. Sanofi today announces it has entered into an agreement to acquire Vicebio Ltd (“Vicebio”), a privately held...
www.sanofi.com
July 22, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Sanofi to acquire Vicebio for $1.15 billion upfront to expand #respiratory vaccines pipeline
Vicebio is a London-based #biotech with an early clinical-stage non-mRNA combination #vaccine candidate for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (hMPV)
www.sanofi.com/en/media-roo...
Vicebio is a London-based #biotech with an early clinical-stage non-mRNA combination #vaccine candidate for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (hMPV)
www.sanofi.com/en/media-roo...
Reposted by Félix Balazard
The US is committing scientific suicide @kennethrmiller
July 12, 2025 at 5:26 PM
The US is committing scientific suicide @kennethrmiller
Reposted by Félix Balazard
A truly bizarre bit of news from an interview with Richard Saynor of Sandoz:
June 3, 2025 at 4:29 PM
A truly bizarre bit of news from an interview with Richard Saynor of Sandoz:
Reposted by Félix Balazard
Animal models suggest that asthma might be treatable by delivering antigens directly to the liver (!)
A New Route to Asthma Treatment - Through the Liver, of All Places
www.science.org
June 2, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Animal models suggest that asthma might be treatable by delivering antigens directly to the liver (!)
Reposted by Félix Balazard
The war on science in the US is already having an effect on private sector research like AlphaFold. Bears repeating but the private sector builds on top of things created by academic research for the public good. This hurts everyone.
May 28, 2025 at 10:18 AM
The war on science in the US is already having an effect on private sector research like AlphaFold. Bears repeating but the private sector builds on top of things created by academic research for the public good. This hurts everyone.
Reposted by Félix Balazard
Of note: this isn't describing theoretical imagined future state but the present, in an increasing number of care settings... ; FWIW most physicians I know who are using this seem to really appreciate it as Peter says. But will long-term effect be > time for doc/pt vs > push to see pts even faster?
The benefits of AI scribes: (1) doctors spend less time working on documentation; (2) more relevant info gets into the clinical note, and (3) both doctors and patients are more satisfied because they can pay attention to each other, instead of a computer. www.wsj.com/health/healt...
Why AI May Be Listening In on Your Next Doctor’s Appointment
New systems for documenting outpatient visits are adding features and moving into hospitals. “We are just scratching the surface,” one doctor says.
www.wsj.com
May 28, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Of note: this isn't describing theoretical imagined future state but the present, in an increasing number of care settings... ; FWIW most physicians I know who are using this seem to really appreciate it as Peter says. But will long-term effect be > time for doc/pt vs > push to see pts even faster?
Reposted by Félix Balazard
We just released unmute.sh 🔇🔊
It is a text LLM wrapper, based on in-house streaming ASR, TTS, semantic VAD to reduce latency. ⏱️
Unlike Moshi 🟢, Unmute 🔊 is turn base, but allows customization in two clicks🖱️: voice and prompt!
Paper and open source coming soon.
It is a text LLM wrapper, based on in-house streaming ASR, TTS, semantic VAD to reduce latency. ⏱️
Unlike Moshi 🟢, Unmute 🔊 is turn base, but allows customization in two clicks🖱️: voice and prompt!
Paper and open source coming soon.
May 23, 2025 at 9:51 AM
We just released unmute.sh 🔇🔊
It is a text LLM wrapper, based on in-house streaming ASR, TTS, semantic VAD to reduce latency. ⏱️
Unlike Moshi 🟢, Unmute 🔊 is turn base, but allows customization in two clicks🖱️: voice and prompt!
Paper and open source coming soon.
It is a text LLM wrapper, based on in-house streaming ASR, TTS, semantic VAD to reduce latency. ⏱️
Unlike Moshi 🟢, Unmute 🔊 is turn base, but allows customization in two clicks🖱️: voice and prompt!
Paper and open source coming soon.
Reposted by Félix Balazard
Should low-dose statins be available OTC in the US? (UK did this in early 2000s!)
Read Alex Kesin’s case in favor: www.alexkesin.com/p/mr-secreta...
Thoughts from @cnewtoncheh.bsky.social, @ethanjweiss.bsky.social?
Read Alex Kesin’s case in favor: www.alexkesin.com/p/mr-secreta...
Thoughts from @cnewtoncheh.bsky.social, @ethanjweiss.bsky.social?
Mr. Secretary, Reclassify the Statin
One regulatory stroke could save more American lives than a decade of health campaigns. You have the pen.
www.alexkesin.com
May 16, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Should low-dose statins be available OTC in the US? (UK did this in early 2000s!)
Read Alex Kesin’s case in favor: www.alexkesin.com/p/mr-secreta...
Thoughts from @cnewtoncheh.bsky.social, @ethanjweiss.bsky.social?
Read Alex Kesin’s case in favor: www.alexkesin.com/p/mr-secreta...
Thoughts from @cnewtoncheh.bsky.social, @ethanjweiss.bsky.social?
Reposted by Félix Balazard
Interesting thing. She has this quote from Aristotle's politics, where she claims he says that with automation, we wouldn't need craftsmen, but would still need slaves. This is interestingly, so I looked it up. At least in Rackham's translation, Aristotle appears to literally say the opposite:
May 15, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Interesting thing. She has this quote from Aristotle's politics, where she claims he says that with automation, we wouldn't need craftsmen, but would still need slaves. This is interestingly, so I looked it up. At least in Rackham's translation, Aristotle appears to literally say the opposite:
Reposted by Félix Balazard
Yesterday, the NIH R35 “Outstanding Investigator” grant to fund scientists in my lab studying antibiotic resistance was terminated for reasons not related to the content of the science, or any actions taken by me or members of my lab
May 13, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Yesterday, the NIH R35 “Outstanding Investigator” grant to fund scientists in my lab studying antibiotic resistance was terminated for reasons not related to the content of the science, or any actions taken by me or members of my lab
Reposted by Félix Balazard
Two days in a row of antibody-drug conjugates! First, the thrilling lysosomal breakout:
Escape From the Lysosome
www.science.org
May 13, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Two days in a row of antibody-drug conjugates! First, the thrilling lysosomal breakout:
Reposted by Félix Balazard
And then we have this excellent new NK cell trial result for Hodgkin’s patients who are resistant to the existing ADC therapies (and all others). A real advance for people with no options left:
New Cell Therapy For Resistant Hodkins Patients
www.science.org
May 13, 2025 at 6:42 PM
And then we have this excellent new NK cell trial result for Hodgkin’s patients who are resistant to the existing ADC therapies (and all others). A real advance for people with no options left:
Reposted by Félix Balazard
Single-cell proteomics is gaining momentum.
It can analyze the proteomes of ~ 1,000 single cells / day, and we need to ensure high quality cell isolation and sample preparation:
⬛️ These approaches can help:
nature.com/articles/s41...
It can analyze the proteomes of ~ 1,000 single cells / day, and we need to ensure high quality cell isolation and sample preparation:
⬛️ These approaches can help:
nature.com/articles/s41...
May 9, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Single-cell proteomics is gaining momentum.
It can analyze the proteomes of ~ 1,000 single cells / day, and we need to ensure high quality cell isolation and sample preparation:
⬛️ These approaches can help:
nature.com/articles/s41...
It can analyze the proteomes of ~ 1,000 single cells / day, and we need to ensure high quality cell isolation and sample preparation:
⬛️ These approaches can help:
nature.com/articles/s41...