Ep. 110 - Richard Pops on Three Decades in Biotech: Drug pricing, FDA and China

Richard Pops has lived the biotech roller coaster over three decades as CEO of Alkermes: an IPO, M&A, near-death events for his company, FDA setbacks, battles with an activist investor, and the satisfaction of knowing that millions of patients have benefited from the company’s medicines. He has led PDUFA reauthorization negotiations for industry, chaired BIO, and advocated for the interests of mid-sized biotechs.As Pops prepares to retire as CEO (he will remain chairman), he spoke with BioCentury Washington Editor Steve Usdin about the ways policy and economics shape the development of medicines. Pops discussed the impact of the Trump administration’s most favored nation (MFN) drug pricing policy and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), concerns about FDA’s loss of talent, and competition and collaboration with China’s life sciences sector.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/659601#DrugPricing #BiotechLeadership #FDAPolicy #LifeSciencesPolicy #DrugDevelopment00:00 - Introduction01:40 - Alkermes’ Evolution05:12 - PBMs, Pricing & Access10:54 - IRA18:14 - MFN24:36 - PDUFA Negotiations28:05 - FDA Staffing31:40 - China & U.S. Policy