Policy in Focus: Trump’s Most Favoured Nations drug pricing scheme – with Alice Valder Curran

In Donald Trump's first presidential term, he spoke a lot about "Most Favoured Nations" pricing for pharmaceuticals - that is, bringing the prices that Americans pay for drugs in line with prices paid around the world. In his first term, all that talk didn't amount to much. But this time around the pharma industry is taking the President much more seriously.   In today's pharmaphorum podcast, host Jonah Comstock speaks with Alice Valder Curran, a partner at Hogan Lovells and our go-to expert on US policy in pharma, for an update on what's happening right now with Most Favoured Nations drug pricing.  Curran brings us up to speed on what's happened with the President's Executive Order and the industry response so far, then she and Comstock break down what was in the recent letters sent by the administration to major pharma companies and subsequently posted on Truth Social by the President.  They talk about the short-term and long-term impacts of the policy, to what extent it's likely to come to fruition, and to what extent the industry has already begun to change its behaviour in response. Check out the full episode below to learn more about what could be the most impactful US policy change for pharma's bottom line in decades. 

Frontiers Health is back, and celebrating 10 years of innovation, conversation, and collaboration.   In this episode of our Frontiers Health limited series of the pharmaphorum podcast, Deep Dive editor Eloise McLennan speaks with Denise Silber, founder of Basil Strategies and Doctors 2.0.   Having spent more than two decades working at the intersection of healthcare professionals, patients, and technology, Silber has had a front row seat to the evolution of digital tools in the sector. From the early adoption of electronic health records to the integration of new artificial intelligence, she has witnessed dramatic shifts across life sciences, yet at the heart of her work remains the core focus of patient centricity.   In this interview, she discusses the importance of spotlighting patient centricity at Frontiers Health, what makes the event special, and her favourite moments from years gone by.  

Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) is a unique disorder in the rare disease sector because there are multiple approved therapies for patients and, in the US alone, the prevalence of CML is expected to triple by 2040. In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh speaks with Amy Burroughs, CEO of Terns Pharmaceuticals, about available treatments for CML, the potential of allosteric TKIs, and the wider oncological landscape today. You can also listen to episode 205a of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it - and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

In this episode of our Frontiers Health limited series of the pharmaphorum podcast, Deep Dive editor Eloise McLennan speaks with Steve Seuntjens, Partner at PHS Capital.   Seuntjens has long been focused on investing in innovation that puts the individual at the centre of health. For him, building companies is never easy – but it becomes meaningful when the outcome is more engaged people, improved health results, and ultimately reduced costs. That, he believes, is where the true value of healthcare transformation lies.   He also shares some of his favourite moments from Frontiers Health, where ideas, energy, and people come together to push the boundaries of what’s possible in personal health innovation.

When it comes to breaking down barriers, humour is vitally important, helping to do away with stigma when it comes – in particular – to pharma and health advertising. In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh speaks with Brian Coane, health partner at creative agency Leith, who talks sensitivity, maximum impact, and overcoming the fear of getting it wrong. After all, dull ads can lead to the dreaded ‘beige tax’. You can also listen to episode 204a of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it - and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

Biotech finance has encountered what can arguably be termed the worst perfect storm in its history, and private investment in biopharma is in the midst of the longest drought. In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh speaks with former surgeon and investment banker Ali Pashazadeh, CEO of Treehill, a strategic and financial advisory firm for the life sciences sector, in a conversation focused on the current ‘perfect storm’ in biotech and why the skies might not be quite as grey and foreboding as at first feared. Pashazadeh discusses how developers, CDMOs, CROs, and all other companies involved in therapeutic development might have to adjust to this new world. You can also listen to episode 203a of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it - and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Frontiers Health. In this episode of our Frontiers Health limited series of the pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh speaks with Unity Stoakes, president and co-founder of Startup Health and Advisory Board Member at The NeuroTech Collider Lab, University of California, Berkeley. Stoakes has spent 30+ years at the intersection of tech, science, and design, operating with the focal goal of transforming global health. And Frontiers Health provides a buzz, a magic, and a vibe to attain that. For Stoakes, Frontiers Health is all about the people, and the space; spaces selected especially to promote meaningful networking. Thereby leveraging network effects, exploring and progressing the power of innovation, and the power indeed of entrepreneurs to build together and bring change to beneficially affect people’s wellbeing globally – for Stoakes, today is one of the most exciting times in history to change the trajectory of health. Listen to this special Frontiers Health episode of the pharmaphorum podcast to learn more about the big challenges that need to be solved for humanity, and discussion of the future landscape of human health.

In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh speaks with Hilary Eaton, a rare disease advocate and chief business officer at Profluent about AI-first protein design and its part in accelerating biomedicine. Eaton discusses her advocacy, gene editing, and how real-world evidence shows that AI scaling laws – which predict model performance based on size and computing power – apply to biology. You can also listen to episode 202a of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it - and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

Characterising the behaviour of drugs in humans has historically required extensive clinical trials at considerable time and cost. So, any lab-derived early insight into how drugs will behave in human patients can make drug trials vastly more efficient. In this episode, the pharmaphorum podcast welcomes Adityo Prakash, founder and CEO of Verseon, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company based in Fremont, California that is developing several drug discovery programmes in cardiometabolic diseases and cancer using molecular physics and artificial intelligence. Prakash discusses development of new AI technologies to handle the small, sparse datasets typical of real-world scenarios, and how testing drugs on organoids – artificially grown masses of cells that resemble the function of specific human organs – can deliver valuable information on the potential effects of drugs in real patients before any human is dosed. You can also listen to episode 201a of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it - and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

This November marks a major milestone for health innovation as Frontiers Health celebrates its 10th anniversary.   To mark the occasion, pharmaphorum is proud to launch a special limited-edition podcast series, bringing you conversations with the people who’ve helped define the conference over the years – and those driving the next wave of innovation.   We’re kicking things off with a very special guest: Kristin Milburn, SVP, marketing ecosystem & strategy at Frontiers Health. Having served across several roles – both on and off stage – she offers a rare perspective on what makes the conference so unique, and what attendees can expect from this special anniversary event.   Tune in to this Frontiers Health special of the pharmaphorum podcast for exclusive insights, memorable stories, and expert perspectives from the driving force at the heart of it all, and be sure to subscribe to catch the rest of the series as we count down to the 10th anniversary edition of Frontiers Health this November.