Axios Live: Biotech experts want U.S. policy to keep pace with innovation
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Raymond James managing director Chris Meekins at Axios' private roundtable. Photo: Bryan Dozier for Axios
WASHINGTON — Innovation in health care treatments and drug development is prompting calls for U.S. policy to contend with the biotech sector's growth, said regulators, advocates and investors at an Axios event.
Why it matters: China's rapid advancements in biopharma are raising questions about America's global standing in the life sciences as policymakers weigh the industry's changes and the implications for national security, patient care and drug discovery.
Axios' Caitlin Owens and Emily Peck moderated the Sept. 23 roundtable discussion. The event was sponsored by Genentech.
5 big takeaways from the conversation:
- China's biotech growth is the result of a deliberate national strategy, said Caitlin Frazer, executive director of the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology. "It is a very intentionally designed strategy by the [Chinese Communist Party] to dominate biotechnology."
- Regulatory barriers are hindering U.S. ability to compete with Chinese drugmakers, said Colin Rom, head of policy for Bio + Health at Andreessen Horowitz. "Until we compete on the regulatory side, they will continue to eat our lunch to some extent."
- Accelerating patient diagnoses and workforce growth should be deliberated alongside drug advancements, said National Organization for Rare Disorders CEO Pam Gavin. "We have to also prioritize the workforce to complement these investments that we need to make relative to national security."
- A "whole-of-government" approach is needed to coordinate a broader U.S. biopharma strategy that provides "a clear vision that says, 'This is what we're doing,'" said Raymond James managing director Chris Meekins. "There doesn't seem to be that coordination at the White House level."
- FDA leadership will play a role in the U.S. approach to drug development and competition with China. FDA deputy commissioner Grace Graham said President Trump's pick to lead the agency, Heidi Overton, "has a unique experience in management of running interagency processes and where to go with the speed … to get FDA policies done in the right way."
Content from the sponsor's segment
In opening remarks, Genentech senior vice president of public affairs and access Fritz Bittenbender said health care policy should be centered on patient care.
- "I think we have to go back and have a policy conversation that actually puts the patient at the center, and once you do that, I think answers to some of these questions become a lot easier."
