Derek Lowe
An Arkansan by birth, Derek got his BA from Hendrix College and his PhD in organic chemistry from Duke before spending time in Germany on a Humboldt Fellowship on his post-doc. He’s worked for several major pharmaceutical companies since 1989 on drug discovery projects against schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, osteoporosis and other diseases.
Derek writes the popular blog In the pipeline on drug discovery and the pharma industry.
- Opinion
Lab automation gives me more time at the top of the mountain
Getting back to the bench reminds Derek Lowe how much has changed in 40 years
- Opinion
Water isn’t normal
Despite its familiarity, water is a chemical oddity. But that’s what makes it fascinating
- Opinion
From one sinking ship to another?
Biogen abandoning Alzheimer’s antibody aducanumab is unusual, but hardly surprising, says Derek Lowe
- Opinion
Harnessing fear and greed for innovation
Many powerful emotions motivate us in the search for new knowledge
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Saving the sounds of Superstition
Preserving the look, feel and sound of degrading plastic artefacts presents particular problems
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Compounding problems
Regulating the line between a vital service and grey-market profiteering is a mess
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Slow march of the retrosynthesis robots
Software synthesis suggestions are hampered by biased and incomplete datasets
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Surviving in the war of all against all
Cancers and bacteria develop resistance to drugs in remarkably similar ways
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Navigating the literature torrent
It’s humanly impossible to filter and read everything worthwhile – let’s embrace assistance
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Bringing drug manufacturing back home
Pharmaceutical supply chains are international, complex and opaque. Is there a better way?
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Regulators must follow their heads, not their hearts
The 2019 US approval of antibiotic Recarbrio seems not to have met the normally expected standards
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Will a court overturn abortion drug’s approval?
Tangle between regulation and politics makes uncomfortable viewing from industry
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Meeting the tigers of the lab
Practical teaching strikes a balance between removing hazards and learning to respect them
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Turning negative results into positives
Publishing unsuccessful experiments is more important than ever as we try to train machines in chemistry
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The psychology of our future with AI
It’s time to accept that digitalisation is changing laboratory work, and embrace the opportunity
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Setting drug development speed records
The pandemic treatment sprint was spectacular, but hard to match under less unusual circumstances
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Embracing oddities
When new chemistry looks like alchemy or witchcraft, it’s worth taking notice
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Nobel vision
Looking beyond the here-and-now let click chemistry open up a whole new world of possibility
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Do science courses need hands-on labs to be effective?
The practical lab is where abstract theory connects to physical reality