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Some 10,000 federal health workers lost their jobs earlier this month — among them, a group of regulators who help new medicines get approved. If Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. doesn’t reverse course, American patients will suffer, and half a century of US leadership in pharmaceutical innovation could come to a precipitous end.

Three decades ago, the US lagged Europe in access to new medications. Pressured to narrow the disparity, Congress passed a law in 1992 to speed up drug approvals. The new framework allowed regulators to collect fees from drug companies, which vastly increased resources at the FDA for reviews.

Today, Americans have access to three-quarters of new medicines, and the US has become a world leader in some of the most advanced treatments, including cell and gene therapies. The promise of such innovations — which can, among other medical miracles, target and destroy cancer cells, potentially reverse hearing loss, and enable sickle-cell patients to live without debilitating pain — can hardly be overstated.

Yet US dominance in such medicine shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Read the whole thing.

Tech’s ‘Zombie Unicorns’ Reach the End of the Road — Parmy Olson

The Bank of England Flinched. Now It Needs a Full-Scale Retreat. —  Marcus Ashworth

Elon Musk and the Dangerous Myth of Omnigenius — Gautam Mukunda

Bitcoin’s Response to Tariffs Says a Lot About the Dollar — Aaron Brown

Bessent Is Wrong About Banks Saving Treasuries — Paul J. Davies

China’s Boeing Ban Is Inviting Scrutiny on Its Own Planes — Thomas Black

If Japan Can’t Get a Good Trade Deal, Can Anyone? — Gearoid Reidy

Here Is Harvard's Best Argument Against Funding Cuts — Noah Feldman

Oil Is Cheap But It Isn’t (Yet) a Bargain — Javier Blas

• What’s with all these billionaires who want to conquer space — or at least make money from it? Beth Kowitt thinks something is off.
• Donald Trump used a visit from El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele to float the idea of deporting “homegrown criminals.” It’s horrific — but all too likely, says Sarah Green Carmichael.
• John Authers brings out his charts to show you why the recession may have already started.

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