Key Takeaways
A New York Times story about an AI model finding a lifesaving drug combination for a dying 37-year-old went viral again on September 23, passing about 400,000 views on X.
The story itself is from March 2025. The patient, Joseph Coates, had POEMS syndrome and went into remission after the AI-suggested treatment.
The nonprofit behind that work, Every Cure, was selected in February for up to $76 million from ARPA-H to move its AI drug matches into lab studies and clinical trials.
A story about artificial intelligence saving a man doctors had sent toward hospice is circulating again. The Cicero Institute shared the New York Times report on X on September 23, and the post passed about 400,000 views within hours. The Times first published the story in March 2025.
What happened to Joseph Coates
Joseph Coates, then 37 and living outside Seattle, had POEMS syndrome, a rare blood disorder that had enlarged his heart and left his kidneys failing. His doctors had run out of options. His girlfriend reached out to Dr. David Fajgenbaum at the University of Pennsylvania, whose team uses AI to scan existing, already-approved drugs for new uses. The model ranked a combination of chemotherapy, immunotherapy and steroids that had never been tried for his condition. Coates responded within a week, was well enough for a stem cell transplant four months later, and went into remission, the Times reported.
Where the work stands now
Fajgenbaum co-founded Every Cure in 2022 to do this at scale. In February, the nonprofit announced it was selected for up to $76 million from ARPA-H, the federal health research agency, to test the most promising matches from its AI platform, called MATRIX, which evaluates every FDA-approved drug against every disease. The plan covers preclinical studies for at least 20 opportunities and clinical trials for 10. Every Cure already has 10 active programs, from Bachmann-Bupp syndrome, reported in about 20 patients worldwide, to breast cancer. Fajgenbaum said the goal is "accelerating access to potential treatments for those who urgently need them."
The drugs were already on the shelf. That is the part worth sitting with. Using what already exists, faster and for more people, is the same idea behind the Gates Foundation's $1 billion push to bring AI to health care, and it follows Neuralink's VOICE trial giving a patient his own voice back as another case of AI showing up at the bedside.
People Also Ask
Did AI really save Joseph Coates's life?
According to The New York Times, an AI model developed by Dr. David Fajgenbaum's team ranked a drug combination no one had tried for his POEMS syndrome. Coates responded within a week and went into remission.
Is the AI drug story new?
No. The New York Times published it in March 2025. It went viral again on X on September 23, 2026.
What is Every Cure?
Every Cure is a nonprofit co-founded by David Fajgenbaum in 2022 that uses AI to find new uses for existing FDA-approved drugs. It has 10 active repurposing programs.
How much funding does Every Cure have from ARPA-H?
In February 2026, Every Cure was selected to receive up to $76 million over three years to run preclinical studies and clinical trials on its AI-identified drug matches.