Following news of a planned CEO departure for the United States’ top drug industry lobbying group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) has tapped a new leader well versed in navigating disagreements and reaching consensus with those in the U.S. halls of power.
Eric Cantor, who represented Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives for 14 years and served as House majority leader from 2011 to 2014, will step up as PhRMA’s next president and CEO on Nov. 9. Cantor is taking over from Steve Ubl, whose planned departure was announced in April, culminating a more than 10-year run at the top of the trade organization.
As for the incoming CEO’s more recent CV, Cantor has served as vice chairman and managing director at investment bank Moelis & Company since departing Congress, where he’s helped advise businesses and executives on strategy, M&A, public policy and the global economic landscape, PhRMA said in a Sept. 29 announcement.
His other healthcare bona fides come in the form of legislation ushered in during his tenure as a lawmaker. Cantor led the bipartisan enactment of the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act, which prioritized federal support for pediatric disease research at NIH. He also helped build support for the legislation that ultimately paved the way for the Medicare Part D program, PhRMA added.
“Eric is well respected among policy leaders in Washington and around the world, with a long track record of working effectively across the political spectrum to achieve important outcomes that have a lasting impact,” said Rob Davis, Merck & Co. CEO and chair of PhRMA’s board, in a statement. “Eric’s unique combination of global business acumen coupled with policy and political experience at the highest levels of government make him an ideal person to lead PhRMA during this critical next chapter.”
For his part, Cantor said he was thrilled to join PhRMA at a time when he can support broader industry efforts to expand patient access and leverage “the promise of AI to speed discovery.”
Once in his new role, Cantor will continue to serve on Moelis & Company’s board of directors. Ubl, meanwhile, will stick around as a strategic adviser to PhRMA until Jan. 15 of next year, helping smooth the transition process.
The changing of the guard comes at an undeniably turbulent time for the pharmaceutical industry, which Merck’s Davis alluded to in a statement of appreciation for Ubl’s work.
Most notably, a confluence of drug pricing and import tariff policies from the second Trump administration led to a 2025 racked by uncertainty, although the picture has become a bit clearer in 2026 as multiple drugmakers have started to ink pricing and investment agreements with the White House.
Changes at the FDA under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have also placed greater scrutiny on the U.S. regulatory apparatus and its independence from political pressure.
President Trump’s latest pick for FDA commissioner, Heidi Overton, M.D., Ph.D., is currently moving through the confirmation process in a bid to fill the leadership vacancy left by former FDA commissioner Marty Makary, M.D., who departed earlier this year.