U.S. President Donald Trump intends to nominate Scott Gottlieb to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), according to a Reuters article. Gottlieb, a resident fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank and a partner at a large venture capital fund, also sits on the boards of several small drug and biotech companies and is an adviser to British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline.
Gottlieb has testified multiple times on Capitol Hill on health issues that include drug pricing matters. He is viewed favorably by drug companies and pharmaceutical investors, and critics of the nomination say Gottlieb’s financial background provides potential conflicts of interest, according to Reuters.
Gottlieb was chosen over investor Jim O’Neill, whose view that drugs should be approved before being proven effective caused alarm among industry executives, per Reuters. If his appointment is approved, Gottlieb is expected to bring significant change to the FDA, including loosening the requirements that drug companies use randomized clinical trials to bring new products to market. He is also expected to create a more streamlined process for approving generic versions of expensive drugs.
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