Huberman Lab

Using Existing Drugs in New Ways to Treat & Cure Diseases of Brain & Body | Dr. David Fajgenbaum

626 snips
Nov 3, 2025
Dr. David Fajgenbaum, a physician-scientist and founder of EveryCure, shares his remarkable journey from battling Castleman's disease to pioneering drug repurposing. He reveals how existing medications, like aspirin and Viagra, can treat unexpected conditions. David emphasizes the importance of mindset in recovery and discusses innovative methods, including AI, to find effective treatments for diseases once deemed untreatable. His insights highlight the urgent need for collaboration between patients and medical professionals to explore novel therapies.
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Lidocaine Before Breast Surgery

  • EveryCure found a large randomized trial where perioperative lidocaine reduced 5-year breast cancer mortality by ~29%.
  • Despite low cost and limited downside, uptake remained minimal worldwide.

Generics Create A Repurposing Gap

  • Most repurposing incentives vanish when drugs become generic, leaving cheap medicines unexplored for new indications.
  • That market failure creates huge missed opportunities for treating untreated diseases.

Serendipitous TNF Success In DADA2

  • A doctor accidentally used a TNF inhibitor from a vasculitis case to treat a DADA2 child and stopped the child's strokes.
  • That single clinician observation took years to propagate before becoming a life-saving guideline.
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