Diversity is a pathway to excellence, BIO’s King says

BIO interim CEO says priorities are the Inflation Reduction Act, accelerated approval, capital formation, DEI

BIO’s top priorities are implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, FDA’s accelerated approval pathway, capital formation, and diversity, equity and inclusion issues, Rachel King, the trade association’s interim CEO, told The BioCentury Show.

In a wide-ranging interview, King discussed public perceptions of the biotech industry, the need to find and nurture political champions, and the pressing concerns of BIO’s members. Among the most pressing, she said, are the Medicare drug price-setting provisions of the IRA, which “do not align with patient needs.” BIO is working to build the case for changes to the law. She acknowledged that this will take time given the difficulty of passing any legislation in the current political environment.  

King expressed concerns about “erosion” of the accelerated approval pathway. BIO is particularly worried by calls for FDA to routinely make accelerated approval contingent on ongoing confirmatory trials.

The bear market is hurting companies that are the engine of biomedical innovation, King said. “The majority of new drugs approved in 2022 originated in small companies, and that was in a year when the ability of those companies to continue to finance programs was dramatically cut back.” BIO, she said, will work on broad issues that improve the innovation ecosystem, and will also push for tax and investment incentives that help smaller companies.

King made the case for implementing DEI policies across the biotech ecosystem. “Diversity is a pathway to excellence,” King said. “The reason that we need diversity, fundamentally, is for excellence. We will get better at what we do to the extent that we have more diverse people around the table, more diverse viewpoints, better diversity in our clinical trials.”

King also addressed the search for a permanent BIO CEO. Ted Love, BIO’s vice chair, is leading a search committee. The process will be “robust and inclusive,” she said.