Government
In the U.S., the chorus of opposition against the proposed buyout continues to grow and now includes the CEOs of Roche and Lilly, a broad coalition of unions and consumer groups and at least one senator.
Iskra Reic will continue to serve as the pharma’s senior vice president for Vaccines and Immune Therapies as she steps in for Leon Wang, who was detained by Chinese authorities in November.
Based on how President-elect Donald Trump’s first administration handled immigration, experts are concerned about how his second term will impact foreign-born biopharma professionals. Two immigration attorneys discuss what may be ahead, including increased difficulty getting work visas.
Trump is rounding out his health cabinet with another controversial figure: one of the authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, which advocated for herd immunity through infection during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Career conservative and former congressman Dave Weldon will, if confirmed, act as director of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, where his anti-vaccine views will mesh with those of selected Department of Health and Human Services head Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Massachusetts’ increased investment in the life sciences industry includes boosting its life sciences tax incentive program by $10 million annually, aiding job creation in the state.
Makary is a pancreatic surgeon at Johns Hopkins who became known for battling medical mistakes and in recent years has been an outspoken critic of COVID-19 policies.
The selection of controversial TV personality Mehmet Oz to run the agency overseeing Medicare and Medicaid follows Trump’s pick of RFK Jr. to run its parent department, HHS.
Trump’s HHS pick, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is an anti-vaccine campaigner who has previously said that he plans to gut the FDA on allegations of corruption and reduce the NIH’s headcount.
GSK’s departure comes as the industry anticipates the incoming Trump administration and as it continues to grapple with the threat of the BIOSECURE Act and losses of legal challenges to the IRA’s drug price negotiation program.
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