Breaking News

BIO’s big shakeup

May 21, 2024
Reporter, D.C. Diagnosis Writer

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lobbying news

BIO's big shakeup 

The biotech industry's major lobby on Monday announced 30 layoffs and restructuring plans, per an email acquired by my intrepid colleagues John Wilkerson and Rachel Cohrs Zhang. In the email, relatively new BIO CEO John Crowley said the changes are intended to "better align our operations with our mission and the strategic priorities."

Among the senior leaders expected to depart as part of the reorganization are Chief Science Officer Cartier Esham, Chief Public Affairs and Marketing Officer Rich Masters, and Chief Policy Officer John Murphy, four sources said.

BIO last month also parted ways with its top lobbyist. At the time, Crowley, who took over in March, told the group's executive committee that he was "considering structural changes in the near future." The lobby's major annual conference is also just weeks away. More from John and Rachel.


2024 watch

Marianne Williamson wants to talk

It's no surprise that STAT spotted Marianne Williamson, the self-help guru and presidential candidate who has made climate change action a cornerstone of her campaigns for office, at an Earth Day gala last week. 

Public health experts criticized Williamson during her failed 2020 campaign for anti-vaccine rhetoric and previous comments that "sickness is an illusion" and antidepressants are a "scam," eventually leading her to insist that she is "pro medicine" and "pro science." And while she's picking up just a sliver of votes in state primaries (roughly 400,000 total), her campaign has caught new attention as third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also known for his vaccine skepticism, picks up momentum in polls. 

"I like Bobby as a person," Willaimson said on the sidelines of the gala. "Regardless of what I think about every issue of Robert F. Kennedy, I think all voices should be heard." And her voice? This time around, Williamson tells STAT she's running to push Democrats to stick to progressive health goals like Medicare for All, codifying Roe, and erasing medical debt. "I'm not a chaos agent," she said while admitting her voter base is "tiny." 

"However, if you are in a close election — which I can't imagine [November 2024] is not — someone who got under 500,000 votes might be someone to listen to," Williamson said. "The Democratic strategy relies too heavily on squashing your opponents and not nearly enough on providing people something to vote for."


on the hill

PBM execs invited to the hot seat, again

Executives from the three major PBMs have been invited to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability next month, four sources familiar with the plan told Rachel. The target date is June 4. 

House Oversight does not have primary jurisdiction on the Hill over health care, but it's taken a particular interest in PBM practices this congressional session with a probe and previous hearings.

Still, it's unclear how much impact the hearing could actually have on legislation. The House has already passed legislation that would require more transparency in PBM practices, but the Senate doesn't seem eager to take it up. More from Rachel.



drug pricing battles

Is Bernie hitting the limits of his bully pulpit?

For more than a year, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has used his perch atop the Senate health committee to haul the CEOs of pharmaceutical companies that make insulin, vaccines, and more before the panel with progressively more ambitious demands related to their pricing, Rachel writes. Now, he's demanding that Novo Nordisk cut its price for its novel, wildly popular diabetes and weight loss drugs.

But with fast-diminishing chances of advancing legislation to meet any of these goals, Sanders could be testing the limits of one Senate chairman's authority. He's already had limited success with pushing Novo to voluntarily lower insulin costs, and the drugmaker is by no means apologetic about blockbuster sales for its new weight loss product. 

So what does success look like for Sanders? Rachel spoke with policy experts and drug pricing advocates about the legacy-building battles ahead.


pandemic policy

Slow spread of unity on a global pandemic agreement 

Countries are back at the WHO negotiating table this week to hammer out an updated pandemic treaty. The initial goal — to require signing countries to follow a wide range of protocols, from reporting measures to vaccine sharing — was almost immediately hampered by competing interests. In particular, developing countries want assurances that vaccines and therapies will be equitably and affordably distributed, drawing concerns from the U.S. (which wants to stick to pre-negotiated agreements and donations) and representatives of major manufacturers. 

The body has since missed a few self-imposed deadlines to finalize the treaty and numerous amendments are still up in the air. Four pivotal countries in the talks — the U.S., the United Kingdom, Colombia, and Brazil — came together to release a tentative agreement last week. While others are already asking for changes "it looked like a lot of progress to me," Jamie Love, who heads Knowledge Ecology International, said in an update from the ongoing meetings.

Yet the treaty's relatively slow movement has frustrated public health advocates who are increasingly convinced it won't have real-world implications for the next global outbreak. "We're seeing this split screen" with the U.S.'s avian flu outbreak and ongoing treaty negotiations, said Nigel Sizer, executive director of Preventing Pandemics at the Source. "There is a real prospect that there will not be an agreement…or that it will be so weak it will be useless."

Member countries are still planning to present a finalized agreement at the World Health Assembly.


More around STAT
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What we're reading

  • Removing race adjustment from lung test could mean higher disability payments for Black vets, STAT 

  • US to deploy more than $50 million to shield private hospitals from cyberattacks, Bloomberg
  • Opinion: HHS's proposed rule pays lip service to addressing the climate crisis, the greatest threat to human health, STAT
  • Members of Congress buy and sell stocks that would gain from bill banning China biotech companies, Endpoints

Thanks for reading! More on Thursday,


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