Episode 146: Paul Offit on vaccine data, 23andMe is going public, & Merck's CEO is retiring

We discuss all that and more this week on “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. First, we recap a busy week of news, featuring 23andMe's move to go public through a blank-check company, Merck CEO Ken Frazier's retirement after three decades at the drug maker, and how the future of Biogen’s Alzheimer’s disease drug got a little more complicated. Then, Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, joins us to weigh in on the bounty of recent Covid-19 vaccine data from Johnson & Johnson, Novavax, and AstraZeneca. Finally, STAT's Casey Ross calls in to discuss his investigation into the FDA's chaotic approach to approving medical products that use artificial intelligence.