Martin Makary, President-elect Trump’s pick for running the Food and Drug Administration, is an executive of the telehealth company Sesame, which connects consumers to physicians who can prescribe compounded weight-loss drugs. If confirmed as FDA commissioner, Makary would take the lead of the agency as it grapples with high-stakes policy issues that could impact Sesame’s business.
The FDA — and patients — have been caught in the middle of a fight between the makers of branded drugs used to treat obesity and pharmacies that have been compounding cheaper versions of those drugs for more than two years.
Pharmacies are allowed to compound drugs while they’re in short supply, and the FDA determines whether they’re in shortage. That task hadn’t been a problem until the agency was faced with whether to take a weight-loss drug off of the shortage list.
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