Listen: A CRISPR milestone, algorithms amok, & biotech mixology

Who polices algorithms? How would you name the first approved CRISPR medicine? And what pairs well with a biotech downturn?

We cover all that and more this week on “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. Our colleague Casey Ross joins us to tell the bombshell story of how the nation’s largest health insurer used a computer algorithm to deny patient care and boost its profitability. Then, biotech veteran Michael Gilman calls in to offer a behind-the-scenes peek at what it’s like to be a startup CEO in this economic downturn — and which cocktail recipes help make it bearable. We also discuss a pioneering approval for a genome-editing medicine.

For more on what we cover, here’s the UnitedHealth story; here’s more on the CRISPR approval; here’s where you can find episodes of Color Code; here’s where you can subscribe to the First Opinion Podcast; and here’s where you can subscribe to our biotech newsletter, The Readout.

Be sure to sign up on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And if you have any feedback for us — topics to cover, guests to invite, vocal tics to cease — you can email [email protected].