Top of the morning to you, and a fine one it is. Clear, blue skies and chilly, but invigorating breezes are enveloping the Pharmalot campus, where the official mascots are dozing in their respective corners and the sounds of passersby can be heard in the distance. As for us, we are engaged in the usual rituals — firing up the coffee kettle in order to brew a cup of stimulation (the choice today is salted caramel) and foraging for items of interest. On that note, here are a few tidbits to help you get started on your journey today, which we hope will be meaningful and productive. Meanwhile, do keep in touch — we enjoy secret dossiers and saucy tips….
Drugmakers are urging the Trump administration and European Union officials to exclude medical goods from expanding tariffs wars, hoping to avert price spikes on top-selling medicines made in Europe, Reuters reports. In conversations with U.S. officials, the pharmaceutical industry argued that tariffs on the EU would increase drug costs and create access barriers for patients, endangering priorities outlined in President Trump’s health-related executive orders on drug pricing and increasing life expectancy of Americans, according to more than a half-dozen pharma industry sources with direct knowledge of the discussions. Some are signaling a willingness to expand manufacturing in the U.S., while pressing for tax breaks and regulatory changes that would make it easier to make that happen. Industry executives are also pressing their case with officials in Brussels, urging the EU hold off on retaliatory tariffs even if Trump includes medicines in a trade dispute. Some raised the fact that life-saving medicines were excluded from sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
Thousands of employees returned to U.S. Food and Drug Administration headquarters on Monday to find long security lines and makeshift office spaces, STAT writes. At the main campus in Silver Spring, Md., employees wondered whether the water was drinkable after testing in some buildings last fall revealed the presence of the Legionella bacteria. Some booked stays at a nearby Comfort Inn in order to avoid a six-hour round-trip commute. Others debated how to hold sensitive calls while crammed into a conference room with other employees. The Trump administration earlier this year ordered all government employees to return to work in person. FDA employees whose “duty station” was within 50 miles of a federal facility had to work in person by Monday. Those outside of the 50-mile radius have until April 28.
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