STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re reading about top pharma lobbyist stepping down, genes and GLP-1 drugs, and more
Why it matters: The departure of PhRMA's CEO signals a new era for the pharmaceutical lobby as Medicare begins negotiating drug prices.
- Steve Ubl will step down as CEO of PhRMA at the end of the year, having led the brand-name drug makers' trade group for over a decade through significant political challenges.
- PhRMA's next leader will face continued political pressure on drug prices and an increasingly populist mood, following legislative actions like Medicare drug price negotiation and Trump-era deals.
- Specific changes in two genes can predict whether patients will experience substantial weight loss on GLP-1 drugs and if they will suffer common side effects like nausea or vomiting, according to a Nature paper cited by STAT.
- 23andMe Research Institute's Adam Auton, senior author of the paper, views the findings as proof of concept for genetics' role in GLP-1 outcomes, with 23andMe Total Health platform users gaining access to this genetic information.
- Outside researchers are impressed but question the immediate impact of these genetic findings on patient care, as noted by STAT News.
Steve Ubl, the long-standing chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), is stepping down at year-end after a decade marked by intense political scrutiny over drug pricing, including the Covid-19 pandemic and new Medicare negotiation laws. Meanwhile, new research published in Nature and highlighted by STAT suggests that specific genetic variations can predict both the efficacy and side effects, like nausea, of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, though the immediate impact on patient care remains uncertain.
