US Capitol Capsule: Regulatory, Legislative, Legal and Political Biopharma News
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
This past week in US regulatory, legislative, legal and political news affecting the biopharmaceutical industry included the death of a Supreme Court justice, which may have implications for cases affecting the biopharmaceutical industry currently pending before the court or those expected to reach it in the next year or two; the Senate majority leader's move to hold a procedural vote on Feb. 22 in the first step to clear Robert Califf as the new commissioner of the FDA; a complaint by federal health officials and lawmakers that profits appear to drive industry's interest in pursuing vaccines against infectious diseases; and the Senate Health Committee's adoption of seven bills under the panel's "innovation project," which is intended to be a "step-by-step" approach for overhauling the US biomedical enterprise; plus other Washington news.