Pharma leaders hope next FDA head calms waters

"“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."

Industry leaders called for a next FDA leader to restore certainty and predictability in regulatory rules. They emphasized long development timelines of 10 to 15 years and the billions of dollars required to bring a medicine to market, arguing that a stable FDA is essential for planning. The industry also pushed back against President Trump’s push for Congress to pass most-favored-nation pricing, which would link U.S. drug prices to lower prices in other developed countries. Bristol Myers Squibb warned that policies that lower prices can also lead to rationing of care. A pharmacy benefit manager CEO urged Congress to instead address high prices by targeting pharma abuse of the patent system.

Read at Axios