This is today's edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. Montana’s plan to become an experimental medical hub just pushed forward As of this week in Montana, biotech companies whose drugs have been through preliminary testing—sometimes in as few as 10 healthy people—can pay $12,500 to apply to a newly established review board for approval. Once its treatment is rubber-stamped, the company can sell it via experimental treatment clinics, the first of which is likely to be up and running around the end of this year. Montana’s latest right-to-try legislation is unique. Access to drugs is theoretically available to anyone who gives informed consent and can pay. For some, especially people in the longevity community, that’s a hopeful and exciting prospect. But to others, it’s unethical and dangerous.
Read our story to learn about where this may all be headed. —Jessica Hamzelou
Montana’s new “right to try” law can’t come soon enough for some Kris DeVault is desperate.His son, Brody, born in March 2023, has something called creatine transporter deficiency—a rare condition in which the brain and muscles lack the energy they need to develop. There are no cures for Brody’s condition. But DeVault has learned of a company developing a drug that might help. That drug is still in the early stages of development and has only been tested in animals and a small number of healthy adults. Doctors can’t prescribe it.DeVault knows the drug might not work. But he’s doing all he can to access it regardless. Read our story about DeVault’s efforts. —Jessica Hamzelou This story is from The Checkup, our weekly biotech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
