The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is asking for help in its search for “freeloaders” that refuse to shoulder their share of the cost of biopharma R&D.
The controversy over budget scoring by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) once again prompted legislation that would overhaul the membership of a health advisory panel that may affect legislation dealing with the Medicare program. The Health Panel Act of 2025 requires the panel be composed of six members each appointed by Republicans and Democrats. The bill's sponsor said this is crucial to ensure diversity of political views, which is said to be lacking as the panel is currently constituted.
U.S. FDA commissioner Marty Makary appeared at the May 22 Senate Appropriations Committee with the news the White House proposed an FDA budget for fiscal 2026 of $6.8 billion including user fees. This is a cut of 11.5% that will not likely go over well on Capitol Hill as the FY 2026 budget process unwinds.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) put biopharma companies on notice May 20: It’s time to commit to reducing prescription drug prices to reflect most-favored-nation (MFN) pricing in accordance with President Donald Trump’s May 12 executive order. HHS said it expects manufacturers to commit to aligning their U.S. prices for all brand products across all markets that don’t currently have generic or biosimilar competition with the lowest price of a set of economic peer countries.
Recognizing the potential legal challenges to U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order calling for most-favored-nation (MFN) prescription drug pricing and the limits of that order, several congressional Democrats introduced a bill in both the House and Senate May 14 that could make MFN pricing the law of the land and extend it to both government health programs and private insurance.
As the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its agencies begin weeding out old regulations, the department is requesting public input to help identify and eliminate outdated or unnecessary regulations.
Ongoing policy issues in the U.S., including the Inflation Reduction Act and recent proposals under President Donald Trump’s administration, have wide ranging implications for the global biopharmaceutical industry, speakers at Bio Korea 2025 said May 8, including a heightened need for all biotechs to draft regulatory strategies.
Korean pharmaceutical stocks rose across the board May 13, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump signed off on the most favored nation executive order, a drug pricing policy expected to benefit biosimilar makers in the U.S., according to Celltrion Inc.
After a week of hype, the most-favored nation (MFN) drug pricing executive order (EO) U.S. President Donald Trump signed May 12 has a lot of bark but little bite, as one analyst put it. Brian Abrahams, head of global healthcare research at RBC Capital Markets LLC, said the EO is unlikely to rattle the biopharma sector, even though it lacked the certainty to completely remove the MFN overhang. “We see reason for relief and, alongside improving FDA clarity and limited tariff risk, expect biopharma to be viewed as increasingly investable,” Abrahams said.
The long-term status of the trade dispute with China remains unclear, but a 90-day reduction in stratospheric tariffs imposed by the U.S. and China on their respective products provides breathing room for the med-tech companies predicting the hardest hit from the original levels.
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