Richard Pops has lived the biotech roller coaster over three decades as CEO of Alkermes: an IPO, M&amp;A, near-death events for his company, FDA setbacks, battles with an activist investor, and the satisfaction of knowing that millions of patients have benefited from the company’s medicines. He has led PDUFA reauthorization negotiations for industry, chaired BIO, and advocated for the interests of mid-sized biotechs. As Pops prepares to retire as CEO (he will remain chairman), he spoke with BioCentury Washington Editor Steve Usdin about the ways policy and economics shape the development of medicines. Pops discussed the impact of the Trump administration’s most favored nation (MFN) drug pricing policy and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), concerns about FDA’s loss of talent, and competition and collaboration with China’s life sciences sector. View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/659601 #DrugPricing #BiotechLeadership #FDAPolicy #LifeSciencesPolicy #DrugDevelopment 00:00 - Introduction 01:40 - Alkermes’ Evolution 05:12 - PBMs, Pricing &amp; Access 10:54 - IRA 18:14 - MFN 24:36 - PDUFA Negotiations 28:05 - FDA Staffing 31:40 - China &amp; U.S. Policy

Ep. 110 - Richard Pops on Three Decades in Biotech: Drug pricing, FDA and China

The BioCentury Show

This is the BioCentury Show. Brought to you by BioCentury Grand Rounds. Join BioCentury and Regional Host Chair Allen Institute this June in Seattle for an R&D forum at the interface of industry and academia. I'm Steve Osden, Washington Editor of BioCentury. My guest today is Richard Pops. Richard's stepping down as CEO of Alkermes in July and will remain as chairman. He has lived the modern era of biotechnology.

He became CEO in 1991 at the age of 28, and Alcremes had about two dozen employees. Today, it has thousands, a market cap over $6 billion, and, most importantly, a portfolio of drugs for serious psychiatric and addiction disorders that have reached millions of patients, and drugs for other serious conditions nearing the market. Alcremes has navigated the classic ups and downs of biotech.

IPOs, mergers, near-death experiences, battles with activists, investors, complete response letters, everything, you name it. Throughout all of this, Richard has had a deep engagement with public policy. He chaired Bio, he serves on the board of Pharma, and he was a central figure in PDUFA reauthorization negotiations for more than, and still is, for more than two decades. And I've learned a lot from Richard over the years.

A recurring theme in our conversations has been how economics and public policy shape what's possible in drug development, not in the abstract, but in concrete terms. What he could build, what he couldn't build, and why. And that's what I want to explore today. But I want to start actually at the beginning with something I have never asked you, and I've always wanted to, which is, how did a 28-year-old become a CEO of a drug company? Well, it's ill-advised, I would say.

Ep. 110 - Richard Pops on Three Decades in Biotech: Drug pricing, FDA and China

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

Ep. 110 - Richard Pops on Three Decades in Biotech: Drug pricing, FDA and China

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.