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Jan 30, 2024

‘We don’t agree’ on drug pricing, FDA chief tells biotech leaders

By Jason Mast June 7, 2023 BOSTON — The drug industry has spent the past year

By Jason Mast June 7, 2023

BOSTON — The drug industry has spent the past year speaking against new mechanisms that could limit how much governments or insurers pay for certain new medicines. Robert Califf, the Food and Drug Administration chief, walked on stage Wednesday and told a crowd of biotech leaders that drug costs needed fixing.

"We don't agree," said Califf, referring to a conversation he had backstage with Ted Love, the new chair of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. "I think the prices of drugs are too high in the U.S."

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Califf has an apparent habit of walking into industry meetings and saying precisely what that industry doesn't want to hear. He also spent much of his career working on new ways of generating decisive evidence for therapies and other medical interventions.

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General Assignment Reporter

Jason Mast is a general assignment reporter at STAT focused on the science behind new medicines and the systems and people that decide whether that science ever reaches patients.

biotechnology

drug development

drug pricing

FDA

pharmaceuticals

policy

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