STAT+: PhRMA taps Eric Cantor as new CEO

Eric Cantor, a former Republican House majority leader, will become the next CEO of PhRMA, the lobbying group announced Tuesday. As head of the brand drug industry’s top lobbying group, Cantor will confront mounting political pressure on drug prices and an increasingly populist mood from both political parties.

The Trump administration is trying to codify into law voluntary agreements it struck with more than two dozen companies to lower U.S. pharmaceutical prices to levels in peer countries. Democrats are also interested in that most-favored-nation pricing approach and are considering adding international prices to the list of criteria Medicare uses to negotiate prices.