STAT+: 'We dodged a bullet': Biotech and pharma react to selection of Marty Makary for FDA commissioner

STAT reporters reached out to key figures in biotech, pharma, and medical devices to find out what they think about President-elect Trump’s pick of Johns Hopkins pancreatic surgeon Martin “Marty” Makary as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Makary, like Trump’s intended Health and Human Services selection, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is part of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, focused on addressing chronic disease. He was also a critic of some Covid-19 pandemic measure, including vaccine mandates.

These interviews have been edited and condensed for length and clarity. (Some spoke only on the condition that they not be identified.)

Jared Holz, Mizuho Securities health care strategist

“Our sense is the Street will come away with a positive view. It is fair to say that far more individuals aside from the commissioner are instrumental as far as the drug review and approval process in the U.S., but Makary we expect will promote technology and innovation in a way that offers some reprieve for those that feared a department more aligned with different virtues.

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