STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re reading about biotech execs fretting over Trump, FDA rehiring employees, and more
At Stanford’s Drug Discovery Symposium, biotech executives spoke openly about how the scientific ecosystem is now in jeopardy
And so, another working week will soon draw to a close. Not a moment too soon, yes? This is, you may recall, our treasured signal to daydream about weekend plans. Our agenda is rather modest. We plan to nurture the Pharmalot grounds, promenade with the official mascot, and have a listening party, where the rotation will likely include this, this, this, this and this. And what about you? This is a lovely time of year to enjoy the great outdoors, so perhaps this is an opportunity to stroll along the shore, in the woods, or along city streets. Or if the weather does not cooperate, you could curl up with a good book or binge-watch something in front of the telly. Or maybe reach out to someone special and say hello in there. Well, whatever you do, have a grand time. But be safe. Enjoy, and see you soon. …
At an annual meeting usually focused on the future of the biopharmaceutical industry, life science leaders could not help but grapple with a present clouded by uncertainty, STAT tells us. At Stanford’s Drug Discovery Symposium, biotech executives spoke openly this week about how the scientific ecosystem that trains the industry workforce and produces many of the discoveries companies later turn into new drugs and diagnostics is now in jeopardy. And investors said the administration’s shifting funding priorities and layoffs at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are already impacting what areas they are willing to fund and where portfolio companies run clinical trials. So far, executives have remained largely quiet as the administration forced out top FDA officials; laid off thousands of employees at federal scientific agencies, and targted universities and specific areas of research. During a Monday panel, former FDA Commissioner Robert Califf decried the industry response as “cowardly.” But the meeting also offered signs that industry veterans are beginning to rethink silence as a strategy.
For the second time in recent months, the FDA is bringing back some recently fired employees, including staffers who handle travel bookings for safety inspectors, the Associated Press writes. More than 20 of the agency’s roughly 60 travel staff will be reinstated. The apparent reversals are the latest examples of the haphazard approach to agency cuts that have shrunk the FDA workforce by an estimated 20%, or about 3,500 jobs, in addition to an unspecified number of retirements, voluntary buyouts, and resignations. In February, the FDA laid off about 700 provisional employees, including food and medical device reviewers, only to rehire many of them within days after pushback from industry, Congress, and other parties. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has not detailed exactly which positions or programs were cut in the mass layoffs.
