March 17, 2026
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National Biotech Reporter

Good morning. My colleagues will be putting on our annual Breakthrough East Summit in New York this Thursday. We have an exciting lineup of speakers that includes top CMS official Chris Klomp and former FDA Commissioner Robert Califf. There are still a few seats left to attend in person. If you can't be in the room, you can take advantage of a 40% discount on a virtual pass.

politics

Trump team adds pressure on Congress to codify MFN

The White House is intensifying its pressure campaign on lawmakers to pass legislation that would codify a “most-favored nation” drug pricing policy,  according to two Trump administration officials.

So far, legislators haven't been very receptive to the policy, which aims to lower drugs prices in the U.S. in line with prices in other countries. Republicans see it as government overreach that would be counter to free-market ideals, one of the officials said.

Still, the White House isn’t backing down, and Washington has a way of being unpredictable. “We’re gearing up for war,” one official said.

Read more from STAT's Daniel Payne.

politics

Judge stalls Kennedy's changes to vaccine policy

A federal judge yesterday stalled major parts of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s attempt to remake vaccine policy in the U.S., saying they were likely illegal.

The ruling focused on Kennedy’s reconstitution of a key vaccine advisory panel and changes made to the childhood vaccine schedule in January. Specifically, the judge said, those moves violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how federal agencies ought to consider and implement policy changes.

The next meeting of the vaccine advisory panel was scheduled for this week, but has been postponed due to the ruling.

Read more.

pricing

Senator blasts GSK inhaler practices, calls for reform

Many asthma patients experienced greater costs and worse symptoms after GSK replaced its asthma inhaler with an identical product at a much higher price in order to avoid paying Medicaid rebates.

That's according to a new report from Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.). The report found that after GSK's switch, more than 78% of parents reported their child had to take another medication, and 18% of the children experienced worsening day-to-day symptoms and missed days at school, and 9% had greater asthma flare-ups.

A GSK spokeswoman said the company “has always been and will continue to be strongly committed to ensuring patients, especially children, have access to the medicines they need."

Read more from STAT's Ed Silverman.

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