Trump's focus is on raising prices abroad, not cutting prices in U.S.

In public, President Trump has repeatedly stressed his goal of lowering U.S. drug prices. But behind the scenes, his team is telling Republicans that the "most-favored nations" policy he's trying to codify is about getting other countries to pay more.

"We told the manufacturers, price wherever you want," Chris Klomp, director of Medicare, said during STAT's Breakthrough Summit East in New York last week. "That's fine, just don't undercut us in another wealthy country."

That could provide a loophole in the policy, though. Drugmakers may choose to delay product launches in other countries, making it impossible to determine whether they're selling treatments in the U.S. at the most-favored nation prices, one professor said.

A White House official said there is no contradiction between what Trump and Klomp have said.

M&A

Gilead to acquire immunology biotech, offers lifeline to Galapagos

Gilead Sciences said last night that it will buy Ouro Therapeutics, a biotech developing drugs for autoimmune diseases, for up to $2.18 billion.

Gilead also said it's in advanced discussions with its longtime but foundering research partner, the Belgian biotech Galapagos, to collaborate on Ouro's assets. Under the potential deal, the two companies, collaborators since 2019, would co-develop Ouro's lead drug, and Galapagos would absorb Ouro's operating assets and retain its employees. Galapagos would pay half of the upfront payment and any milestone payments to Ouro shareholders.

Ouro has been testing its lead drug, OM336, in a range of conditions including autoimmune cytopenias, in which the immune system attacks healthy blood cells.

This is Gilead's second major deal this year. Last month, it announced that it would acquire CAR-T-focused biotech Arcellx for up to $7.8 billion.

immunology

Merck partners with Flagship company on IBD targets

Quotient Therapeutics, a biotech founded by Flagship Pioneering, said this morning it's partnering with Merck to discover new drug targets for inflammatory bowel disease.

Under the deal, Merck will give Quotient an upfront payment of $20 million and up to $2.2 billion if milestones are met.

Quotient focused on illnesses caused by genetic changes that occur as people age. The biotech said it analyzes patient tissue for these mutations to find the ones that cause or protect from diseases.

The drug industry has been investing heavily in new treatments for IBD, particularly combination therapies. Currently available drugs help only about 30% of people with IBD, but new combinations are raising hopes that the industry can break that efficacy ceiling. My colleague Allison DeAngelis covered this in a recent story here.

regulation

Do you have what it takes to be CBER director?

The FDA has officially posted a job opening for director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

The agency is hiring since the current director, Vinay Prasad, is set to leave the agency at the end of April, following a series of controversial decisions.

The salary range listed is $301,825 to to $400,000 per year. The posting also says remote work eligibility is "at the discretion of the supervisor" and immunization is not required.

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