Bijan Salehizadeh

Healthcare investor. Howard Stern. Arcade Fire. Bowie. U2. California dreamin'

[Bijan Salehizadeh @bijans]

Ok this clip about navigating the American Healthcare System from the recent South Park ozempic special (which was brilliant) needs to be the opening of every healthcare conference panel

[Bijan Salehizadeh @bijans]

Knicks in 7 or Spurs in 5?

[Eric Topol @EricTopol]

A new study links GLP-1 drugs and 30-35% reduced incidence of breast cancer, using matched-pair propensity analysis
https://t.co/AjNYlDM3A3
Confirms other association studies but still no proof

[Hims House @himshouse]

🚨 BREAKING: CIGNA TO DROP COVERAGE OF GLP-1s FOR OWN EMPLOYEES ON JULY 1

Impacts $NVO Wegovy and $LLY Zepbound

"As availability has increased and new options have emerged, we've made the decision to end ⁠our plan's coverage for GLP-1s for weight loss."

$HIMS

[Bijan Salehizadeh @bijans]

Most overused / misused term of the last few months: “anhedonia”

Most of us need a bit less “hedonia” (junk food, drinking)

[Bijan Salehizadeh @bijans]

Would love a securities lawyer to explain how a major investor and a CEO can make statements like these. Or SEC doesn’t matter anymore?

[Matthew Herper @matthewherper]

People who don't follow cancer research often ask me why we haven't cured cancer. That perception masks a wonderful reality: We make amazing, stepwise progress every year, and the result is that many people live much longer today than they would have previously.

Right now we're in the thick of the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the biggest research meeting on new cancer medicines, and this morning a bunch of really important studies dropped. I'm going to review them here.

This first image is the result for daraxonrasib, a treatment for pancreatic cancer that is generating consdirable excitement. The green line is the probability of living for patients who got the new drug; the gray one is the chemo control group.

If you follow cancer drugs, a chart like this will make your breath hitch a little. I'm going to review these and some other data here.

[Bijan Salehizadeh @bijans]

I’m so excited for the NBA Finals.

[Bijan Salehizadeh @bijans]

@cremieuxrecueil Would love to be there

[Bijan Salehizadeh @bijans]

Modern Soviet history which was mostly a Stalin course - and he was incredible. Brilliant and entertaining and never finger wagging about history. Also took his class centered on his book about Magnitogorsk / the Soviet manufacturing and mining town. Early 1990s at Princeton when he was a junior professor.

[Bijan Salehizadeh @bijans]

@barttels2 @mancunianmedic Agreed. Kotkin is the best. Was lucky to have him as a professor in college.

[Bijan Salehizadeh @bijans]

@DrCamRx Seeing lots of this w friends.

[Bijan Salehizadeh @bijans]

@mikescheeler15 Nice! Your Bruce / Clarence cap?

[Bijan Salehizadeh @bijans]

Power to the People Festival Oct 3 2026 in DC with Bruce, Foo Fighters, DMB, Tom Morello and others. Announcement tomorrow….

[Bijan Salehizadeh @bijans]

Here w 50,000 friends.

[Bijan Salehizadeh @bijans]

CordenPharma (US based CDMO manufacturing peptides) Acquires AmbioPharm to Expand Global Peptide API Capacity https://t.co/Ny0ZEThQHv

[Bijan Salehizadeh @bijans]

Steeze Burger day 1. Love to see a great food truck (and best burger in DMV) open a shop. https://t.co/NVK3wXcE5R

[Variety @Variety]

Rob Base, one-half of Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock, who was best known for the hit “It Takes Two,” has died at 59 from cancer.

“Rob’s music, energy, and legacy helped shape a generation and brought joy to millions around the world. Beyond the stage, he was a loving father, family man, friend, and creative force whose impact will never be forgotten,” reads a statement on his social media account. “Thank you for the music, the memories, and the moments that became the soundtrack to our lives.”

https://t.co/NFGZR3FQLl

[Bijan Salehizadeh @bijans]

.@ManOnThePen estimates that well over 1m people have tried reasearch grade retatrutide. That seems quite plausible to me.

[On The Pen™ @ManOnThePen]

Retatrutide TRIUMPH-1 Mystery Revealed $LLY $NVO $VKTX https://t.co/ZBvHEWOxKg

[Bijan Salehizadeh @bijans]

Obesity fuels many cancers & serious disease.

In direct contrast to the misguided and stupidly dangerous 'fat acceptance movement', new studies show GLP-1s are linked to slower cancer progression & better survival. Observational data only, so more research required.

Obesity is a disease but now an entirely reversible one with modern medicine.

[The Wall Street Journal @WSJ]

The world’s most popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs are linked to a powerful new possible benefit: better outcomes for cancer patients. https://t.co/T9LglXOxkg

[Jesús Fernández-Villaverde @JesusFerna7026]

Replacement fertility in one chart: Even if 90% of women have children and average 2.2 each, we still fall short.

Why? The fertility rate of a population equals the product of the proportion of women who have children and the average number of children per mother.

That is, if 90% of women have children and the average number of children per mother is 2.2, the fertility rate of this population is 1.98.

This simple formula gives us the relationship between the proportion of mothers in a population and the average number of children per mother required to reach the replacement rate. As I explained two days ago (check my feed if you missed it), this replacement rate is 2.1 in Western countries, where sex selection and infant mortality are low.

The figure plots the result (if you are technical, this is called the iso-replacement curve). Obviously, if 100% of women become mothers, the average number of children per mother required to reach replacement is 2.1. If we move to 90%, this average rises to 2.33.

Notice that if we fall to 80%, the average increases substantially to 2.6. I selected 80% because it implies that one in five women never becomes a mother, close to what we now see in Japan and parts of Southern Europe. The current young cohorts in advanced economies seem to be on track to be well below 80%, but we will not know for sure for another 20 years or so.

Having an average of 2.6 children per mother requires many very large families. And modern societies are not organized for this to happen.