As the biopharma industry grapples with the uncertain macro environment brought on by the new administration, CEOs, regulators and many others speak out.
Throughout the past several weeks, the actions taken by the Trump administration to downsize the Department of Health and Human Services and levy tariffs across industries while threatening pharma-specific import taxes have activated an unprecedented level of discourse on social media and beyond. Here, we highlight some of the most powerful quotes.
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“This week’s stunning reversals demonstrate how quickly things can change on both the policy/macro front and for equities.” —Jefferies Global Research & Strategy
“Biotech is in a doom loop.” —Adam Feuerstein, biotech reporter, STAT News, on X
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“The FDA as we’ve known it is finished.” —Former FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, on LinkedIn
“I would expect this is a slow-moving catastrophe, not an immediate catastrophe.” —Former FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, per Fierce Biotech
“His [Marks’] resignation is far more than the departure of a highly respected figure. It is a stark and unequivocal warning.” —Jeremy Levin, CEO, Ovid Therapeutics, on LinkedIn
“Twenty-five years ago, it was common to hear complaints about a ‘drug lag’—the perception that Europeans routinely enjoyed medical advances years before their American counterparts. . . . Today, the cumulative barrage on that drug-discovery enterprise, threatens to swiftly bring back those frustrating delays for American consumers, particularly affecting rare diseases and areas of significant unmet medical need.” —Scott Gottlieb, former FDA Commissioner, on X
“The current uncertainty surrounding the FDA’s ability to function creates downstream uncertainty from investors who will question whether the FDA can do its job as it is being reinvented.” —No Patient Left Behind letter to Sen. Bill Cassidy
“In the before times (before the enactment of user fees at FDA) the average new drug application review time was two and a half years. Today the average review time is 10 months. The biggest winners are patients waiting for new treatments and cures. Reversing this trend is bad news for everyone.” — David Beier, managing director at Bay City Capital, on LinkedIn.
“[I]n the parlance of the military- this is a classical ‘decapitation strike’. . . . It weakens one of the core institutions protecting Americans.” —Jeremy Levin, CEO, Ovid Therapeutics, on LinkedIn
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“Tariffs will increase prices for generic medication substantially at the expense of American consumers and they will hit the most vulnerable US citizens the hardest.” —ING, per PharmaPhorum
“Global supply chains are complex, with pharma among the most—it’s not as simple as moving where someone screws in little screws to make an iPhone.” —BMO Capital Markets
“While big pharma might sidestep most of the damage, early-stage biotech startups are feeling the heat, with rising R&D costs, disrupted supply chains, and longer timelines. This isn’t just trade policy. It directly impacts innovation speed, capital efficiency, and clinical momentum.” —Tapas Saha, senior director, Clinical Development & Medical Communications, Anavex Life Sciences, on LinkedIn
“It’s hard to believe that any administration would want to harm U.S. companies, let alone U.S. biopharma, which is, in our view, an extremely enviable sector.” —BMO Capital Markets
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“Dear Science, I write to you today after reading the news that HHS Secretary Kennedy has announced plans to ‘determine the cause of autism by September.’ My pen is heavy with disbelief, my mind reeling at the implication that all this time, you’ve simply been too lazy or incompetent to find the answer that apparently can be discovered in just a few months.” —Unbiased Science via Jessica Steier, executive director, Science Literacy Lab, on LinkedIn
“Because frankly we don’t trust these m——f——. They’d write over it or erase the whole database.” —Peter Marks, former Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research director, on not providing Kennedy’s team editing access to drug safety reports, to AP News
