Former House majority leader named CEO of major pharma lobbying group
by Mary McCue Bell · The Washington TimesFormer House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has been tapped for a consequential lobbying job: CEO of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, also known as PhRMA.
The lobbying group announced its new head Tuesday. He will assume the role Nov. 9, just days after the midterm elections.
He will bring “decades of experience at the intersection of business and public policy to lead the organization at a pivotal moment for America’s biopharmaceutical industry,” the organization said in a statement.
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Mr. Cantor, Virginia Republican, served in the House from 2001 to 2014, the last three years as majority leader.
In Congress, PhRMA said, he led the enactment of the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act, which prioritized federal support for pediatric disease research at the National Institutes of Health, and helped build support for the law that established Medicare Part D. PhRMA also credits him with laying the groundwork for the 21st Century Cures Act.
He was the first sitting majority leader in history to lose a party primary, having been defeated in a major upset by Dave Brat, a local economics professor.
After leaving Congress, he joined the investment bank Moelis & Company, where he will remain on the board.
He will succeed Stephen J. Ubl, who will serve as a strategic adviser to PhRMA until Jan. 15, 2027.
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Mr. Ubl has led PhRMA since 2015, a period of sustained pressure from administrations and lawmakers over drug pricing. His planned departure was announced in April.
Now, Mr. Cantor will lead the major trade association representing the country’s leading innovative biopharmaceutical research companies, which includes over 30 major research-based biopharmaceutical companies, such as Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.
He said that PhRMA’s member companies operate at the “cutting edge of science and technology seeking novel treatments and cures for both chronic and rare diseases.”
“I’m honored to join in the industry’s efforts to expand patient access, leverage the promise of AI to speed discovery, and be a champion for the hundreds of thousands of Americans working in the biopharmaceutical industry whose science improves, extends, and saves lives,” he said in a statement.
Mr. Cantor will inherit heightened scrutiny of drug pricing, including the Trump administration’s most-favored-nation agreements with drugmakers. Democrats have said they would examine those confidential deals if they win a congressional majority in the Nov. 3 midterms.
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Mary McCue Bell
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