Benjamin Wiley

An antibiotic used for pneumonia and skin infections sells for $3,814 per gram, 40 times the price of gold. Omadacycline keeps bacteria from making the proteins they need to grow. It matters because doctors use it for pneumonia and serious skin infections when older antibiotics may fail. AK Scientific in the US lists 1 gram for $3,814. MedKoo Biosciences in Durham, North Carolina, US sells 25 milligrams for $550. This is one of 838 molecules selling today for more than gold per gram. Here's the list:

A pain and inflammation medicine for horses and dogs sells for $3,820 per gram, 40 times the price of gold. Vedaprofen is a veterinary pain reliever. It tamps down the chemistry that makes injured tissue swell and hurt, which helps animals recover after surgery or injury. A2B Chem LLC in the US sells vedaprofen for $382 for 100 milligrams. Aaron Chemicals LLC in Hong Kong sells 100 milligrams for $404. This is one of 838 molecules selling today for more than gold per gram. Here's the list:

An ingredient once paired with niacin in cholesterol pills to reduce the hot flush sells for $3,960 per gram, 42 times the price of gold. Laropiprant made niacin easier to tolerate. Niacin can make skin blood vessels open suddenly, causing heat, redness, and itching; laropiprant blocked that flush signal so patients could stay on the cholesterol medicine. AA BLOCKS in the United States sells 100 milligrams of laropiprant for $396. Aaron Chemicals LLC in Hong Kong sells 250 milligrams for $1,110. This is one of 838 molecules selling today for more than gold per gram. Here's the list:

A drug given before chemotherapy for small-cell lung cancer sells for $4,571 per gram, 48 times the price of gold. Trilaciclib temporarily pauses fast-dividing bone marrow cells before chemotherapy hits. That matters because chemotherapy can damage the cells that replenish blood and immune defenses during treatment. Angene Chemical in Hong Kong sells 1 gram of trilaciclib for $4,571. TargetMol Chemicals in the United States sells 200 milligrams for $1,080. This is one of 838 molecules selling today for more than gold per gram. Here's the list:

A drug candidate studied for kidney disease and prostate cancer sells for $4,928 per gram, 51.9 times the price of gold, and 18 vendors list it. Zibotentan blocks endothelin, a signal that can tighten blood vessels and strain kidney tissue. Researchers study it because that signal can make kidney damage worse and help some tumors grow. Combi-Blocks in the United States lists 250 milligrams for $1,232. Angene Chemical in Hong Kong lists 250 milligrams for $1,675. This is one of 838 molecules selling today for more than gold per gram. Here's the list:

Interesting passage from True Genius: The Life and Science of John Bardeen — The Only Winner of Two Nobel Prizes in Physics: The most fruitful problems, Bardeen would stress repeatedly, lie at the intersection of science and engineering. The transistor was an example. When Bell Labs engineers were frustrated in the 1930s by the inadequacies of vacuum tubes, their scientist colleagues suggested that it was “possible, theoretically at least, to control the flow of electrons in a semiconductor,” even though at that time “no one knew how to do it.” For a few years, “semiconductors became one of the most popular fields of physics.” The invention of the transistor then “opened up an intensive period of device development and of basic research on semiconductors.” The example illustrated an important feedback loop in which product development feeds basic research and vice versa. Bardeen’s many talks and writings about the relationship between science and industrial research express his commitment to the idea that the highest use of science is for the public good. He believed that it made sense to look first at the technological base and then work on developing the corresponding science, rather than “finding something in science and then looking around for applications.” He emphasized the difficulty of transferring a scientific discovery that had not been made in the context of any technological mission “into useful products, particularly in competition with products which already exist.” In the case of the transistor, where the technological need led the science, it was possible to reach social usefulness directly. Bardeen disagreed with the usual distinction made between basic and applied research. “Basic research is defined by​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ the National Science Foundation as that directed toward fuller knowledge and understanding rather than toward practical application. I prefer not to stress the last phrase of this definition, since I believe that much good basic research is done with applications in mind.” He would remind his audiences that the research program resulting in the transistor “was basic in that it was directed toward understanding the electrical properties of semiconductors, but everyone working on the program was aware of the long-range goal and of its importance.” He believed fundamentally that “there is really no sharp dividing line between basic and applied research.” Bardeen was consultant to Haloid from 1952 which changed to Xerox in 1961, when he joined the board until ‘74. He strongly supported the creation of PARC and opposed the relocation of its office system division to Dallas in 1972, a decision that contributed to Xerox’s inability to commercialize PARC’s many innovations.

The booster in 7 HIV medications sells for $6,050 per gram, 64 times the price of gold, even though it does not fight HIV directly. Cobicistat is a booster. It blocks the liver enzyme that would clear the treatment drugs too quickly. That keeps the actual medicine in the body long enough to work. Apexbio Technology LLC in the US lists cobicistat at $1,210 for 200 milligrams. MedKoo Biosciences in Chapel Hill, NC, US, sells it for $1,050 for 200 milligrams. This is one of 838 molecules selling today for more than gold per gram. Here's the list:

A treatment for progeria, the rare disease that makes children age rapidly, sells for $6,240 per gram, 66 times the price of gold. Lonafarnib keeps a damaged protein from anchoring inside a child's cells. In progeria, that buildup makes cells break down too early, so slowing it can help children live longer. Molnova in China sells lonafarnib for $624 for 100 milligrams. Apexbio Technology LLC in the US sells it for $1,939 for 200 milligrams. This is one of 838 molecules selling today for more than gold per gram. Here's the list:

@alexisxrivas insane

And on top of that, they will keep the bond for 2 years after construction starts to make sure the trees are healthy before returning the $.

We're working on getting a permit for a stunning large single family home for our client. This is a difficult county. Not LA. They require a $40k tree cash bond in case you damage the trees, BEFORE even releasing plans from planning dept. to the building dept.

@NUChemistry @WeinbergCollege @NorthwesternU @IINanoNU @TrienensInst I met with Mark in my first year as Asst. Prof. at Duke, he was astonishingly kind and encouraging.

Mark A. Ratner (1942–2026): A groundbreaking chemist, beloved mentor, gifted teacher, and intellectual force, Mark leaves behind a legacy that transformed chemistry, nanoscience, and molecular electronics for generations to come. #RIP

Made a table from an oak tree I had to cut down, only took 6 years.

Great episode!

@michaelxpettis There are some facts in this book that contradict your assertions.

Tordior is right. In the 1980s, the US and Europe encouraged Japanese investment because they thought it would bring the "Japanese" management style that explained Japan's manufacturing success. But Japanese manufacturers ended up being no more successful than local ones once they were no longer protected by unlimited cheap financing, an undervalued currency, compliant labor unions, and government overspending on logistics and transportation infrastructure. In fact by the late 1990s, when because of terrible debt burdens Japanese producers could no longer count on the factors that were the real secret of their international competitiveness, reformers in Europe and the US were no longer demanding that their businesses become more "Japanese" in order to succeed. It was now Japanese reformers who insisted that their businesses become more "American". The point is that Chinese manufacturing is not more competitive than European manufacturing because of some special Chinese sauce that can be sprinkled abroad as easily as it is sprinkled at home. It is more competitive because it is based in an economy in which its competitiveness is driven by intervention in the country's external accounts. That is not to say that there aren't individual sectors in which Chinese manufacturers are genuinely more efficient that Europeans, but these sectors only emerged after many years of substantial protection and support from the Chinese government. The point is that if foreign manufacturers are aggressively outcompeting EU manufacturers because of substantial direct and indirect subsidies, the EU has three options. First, do nothing and see its share of global manufacturing wither. Second, match the subsidies and risk seeing the EU's debt burden rise as quickly as China's. Or three, intervene in the external account by enough to neutralize the effect of foreign ontervention. All of this would probably be more obvious if the EU's biggest economy, Germany, hadn't once enjoyed (and still enjoys to some extent) many of the very advantages that now threaten it. Manufacturers in extremely competitive, surplus economies think that because they are more competitive globally, they must also be more efficient. In fact, as Japan's example overwhelmingly illustrates, the direct and indirect subsidies that made their manufacturers so globally competitive also undermined their efficiency to such an extent that, once they were eliminated, many of them, unable to compete, quickly went bankrupt.