Pfizer, Eli Lilly and PhRMA CEOs joined Trump for Mar-a-Lago dinner to talk collaboration, cures for cancer: Axios

Amid ongoing speculation about how the biopharmaceutical sector will fare under Donald Trump's second presidency, the President-elect hosted several prominent industry leaders at his Mar-a-Lago residence to discuss topics such as finding cures for cancer, Axios reports.

Joined by his incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles and HHS secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump dined with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks and the head of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), Stephen Ubl, according to the report.

The event included a pre-dinner reception and spanned nearly three hours, Axios reports. Discussions at the table included how the public and private sectors can collaborate on finding cures for cancer, the publication adds.

Representatives at Lilly, Pfizer and PhRMA did not immediately respond to Fierce Pharma’s requests for comment.

During recent years, President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act—specifically its Medicare price negotiations—served as a major point of contention between much of the industry and the government.

Trump has threatened to roll back parts of the legislation but he could also consider accelerating or expanding the price negotiations, analysts at S&P Global wrote in a recent report, citing "bi-partisan support for lowering drug spending and his earlier expressed support for Medicare drug pricing negotiation."

Outside of the IRA, Trump’s pick for HHS secretary has caused consternation in the industry and beyond with his history of vaccine rhetoric. 

While RFK Jr. recently sought to assuage concerns over his vaccine beliefs by stating in an interview that "we're not going to take vaccines away from anybody,” Scott Gottlieb, M.D., a Trump-appointed former FDA commissioner, recently said the nominee could “cost lives in this country" if he pursues changes to existing policy.

In the wake of the RFK Jr. appointment, Ubl said in a statement that PhRMA wants to “work with the Trump administration to further strengthen our innovation ecosystem and improve health care for patients."