Having to be right means you defended your hypothesis, even if it's flawed. Being accurate means you described reality — including the parts you hoped weren't there.

Take aptamers. For years, the field was "right": PEGylation was the way to keep these molecules from rapid renal clearance. Bulk them up past the kidney filtration cutoff and buy yourself a real half-life. The logic was clean. The consensus was tight. Unfortunately, clinical trial subjects paid with their lives.

It wasn't accurate. Anti-PEG antibodies turned out to be more prevalent in the population (up to 70% in some studies) than anyone modeled. Immunogenicity surfaced. Clinical trials, subjects, and companies paid the price.

That gap — between "right" and "accurate" — has killed more drug programs than bad chemistry. Patients pay for it. So do investors. This is partly why Helixomer does not use PEG but instead uses RNA Origami.

I'd rather lead a company that's accurate and sometimes needs to course-correct than one that's "right" and quietly miscalibrated.

The molecule doesn't care who won the meeting.