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The drug sold by Biogen is an antibody that binds to brain plaques. Aduhelm failed a large human trial that did not show any tangible benefit to patients with brain disease. Still, the company and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration decided to move forward in June, over objections from the agency’s expert advisors. A few resigned. One, Aaron Kesselheim, called the episode “probably the worst drug approval decision in recent US history.”
Yes, we need new treatments for Alzheimer’s. But that approval did mark an alarming trend to approve drugs using a weaker type of evidence known as “surrogate markers.” Because it caused a measurable reduction in brain plaques, a marker of dementia, the FDA concluded there was a “reasonable possibility” that it would benefit patients, Aduhelm said. One problem with such predictions is that no one knows if these plaques cause the disease or if they are just among their symptoms.
Aduhelm, the first new Alzheimer’s drug in 20 years, has already been a failure. Few patients take it, Biogen’s sales are so small and at least one person has died from brain swelling. Since approval, the company has cut the price of the drug in half, and the research chief abruptly resigned.
rread more: “How Unproven Alzheimer’s Drug Approved?,” The New York Times.
Zillow’s home buying algorithm
“Don’t go nuts on your own terms” is a familiar business maxim. Property listing company Zillow did exactly that, with disastrous results.
The company’s real estate listing site is popular, and computer-generated home values known as “Zestimates” are also popular. The company’s mistake was to use their forecasts to buy unseen homes to reverse them and collect transaction fees. Zillow soon learned that its algorithm did not accurately predict changes in house prices. And that wasn’t the only problem.
Zillow was competing with other digital bidders known as “iBuyers”. So he did what any home hunter determined to make a deal would do: he overpaid. This year, Zillow was listing hundreds of homes for less than their own purchase price. In November, the company closed its iBuying unit Zillow Offers, laid off 2,000 jobs, and wrote a loss of $500 million in what the Wall Street Journal described as “one of the sharpest American corporate pullbacks in recent times.”
Zillow will remain committed to its core business of selling ads to real estate agents. Zestimates still has a home on the estate.
read more: “What Went Wrong With Zillow? A Real Estate Algorithm Derails Its Big Claim” Wall Street Magazine
ransomware
Ransomware is malware that hijacks a company’s computer files by encrypting them. Criminals then demand money to restore access. This is a thriving business. According to cybersecurity company SonicWall, ransomware set a new record with more than 500 million attacks in 2021.
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