Exclusive: Pharma leaders hope next FDA head calms waters
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Ubl speaks at Axios' Future of Health event May 13. Photo: Lord Made for Axios
The CEO of the main pharmaceutical company trade group on Wednesday called for the next Food and Drug Administration commissioner to "calm the waters" and ensure stability as drug companies develop new treatments.
Why it matters: The FDA has faced a tumultuous several months leading up to commissioner Marty Makary's resignation Tuesday, with staff layoffs and top leaders heading out the door.
What they're saying: "What we really need from the next leader of the FDA is to calm the waters and reestablish that certainty and predictability," PhRMA CEO Steve Ubl said at Axios' Future of Health Summit.
- Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Chris Boerner sounded a similar theme, pointing to the years of work that go into developing a drug.
- "What we need right now is we need predictability," he said. "Our time horizons are 10 to 15 years. We spend billions of dollars to bring one new medicine to market. And in that environment, we need to know that we've got a very stable FDA that sets consistent rules."
- Ubl said he did not know the acting FDA commissioner, Kyle Diamantas.
The intrigue: The pharmaceutical industry is also pushing back on President Trump's call for Congress to pass into law "most favored nation" pricing, a drug pricing policy in recent voluntary agreements that links U.S. prices to lower ones paid in other developed countries.
- "We've been very clear with the administration that we have concerns about most-favored nation as a policy," Boerner said.
- He said the idea would import policies from abroad that "may generate lower prices, but in every single instance they also generate rationing of care."
- The chances of Congress acting are generally seen as unlikely, given congressional Republican concerns about violating free market principles, but the industry is still on guard and not taking chances.
The other side: David Marin, CEO of the pharmacy benefit manager group PCMA, called on Congress to focus its attention on drug prices on "pharma abuse of the patent system," which he said keeps prices high for patients.
