It seems likely that this year’s Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine will be remembered by many people who normally forget about it before the physics prize is even announced. One of the three prize winners, Ralph Steinman, passed away last Friday. The Nobel Prizes are not usually awarded posthumously; the Nobel Prize website, in fact, states that such awards are “not possible,” and so it is unclear whether Steinman is, indeed, a Nobelist or not. According to a report by the Associated Press, committee members didn't know Steinman was dead when they chose him as a winner and are...

This week’s report of remissions in three advanced leukemia patients after immunotherapy has generated quite a lot of excitement in the media – which, in turn, has led to some backlash amongst the twitterati and in the blogosphere, noting that two complete remissions plus a partial one don’t make a blockbuster. Or anything, really, that will be broadly useful within the next few years. Mainly, when I look at these controversies, I am grateful that I write for such a smart audience. If you are reading this blog, chances are that you work in the biopharmaceutical industry – and if...

This week’s report of remissions in three advanced leukemia patients after immunotherapy has generated quite a lot of excitement in the media – which, in turn, has led to some backlash amongst the twitterati and in the blogosphere, noting that two complete remissions plus a partial one don’t make a blockbuster. Or anything, really, that will be broadly useful within the next few years. Mainly, when I look at these controversies, I am grateful that I write for such a smart audience. If you are reading this blog, chances are that you work in the biopharmaceutical industry – and if...