If you want a thought-provoking conversation about the state of pharma, Dr. Jeremy Levin, CEO of Ovid Therapeutics, is a good person to sit down with. 

Levin has weathered his share of industry fluctuations and takes a birdseye view of the ups and downs. So when I cornered him for a few minutes during a cocktail reception at this week’s J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference and asked about the policies he’s tracking, Levin waved away any discussion about specific regulations and took a more philosophical tone. 

“The biggest challenge right now is very straightforward — it’s overcoming the anxiety we have about change,” he offered. 

While pharma faces massive shifts in the political and social environment, Levin proposed that the “inertia of anxiety” causes most of the uncertainty. To overcome this obstacle, he said companies should unite around a “core set of values” and “demonstrate that the biopharma industry is a strategic asset to the nation.” 

Although Levin focused our policy discussion on the bigger picture, other executives I interviewed in San Francisco dove into the regulatory nitty gritty. Yes, many of these conversations involved the Inflation Reduction Act, but several other provisions are also top of mind in pharma. Today, we’re looking at some of the policies pharma leaders are tracking. 

Editor’s note: PharmaVoice is taking a publishing break on Monday to acknowledge Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We will be back in your inboxes on Tuesday. 

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