As the 26th Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F Kennedy Jr takes charge of institutions including the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) – the regulatory gateway for drugmakers, including foreign ones looking to sell in that country.
For Indian drugmakers, the US is a major export market and industry-insiders are watchful, and hopeful, the new man at the helm will bring greater transparency and accountability. The Indian pharma industry supplies about 42 per cent of all US brand and generic prescriptions, according to industry estimates.
Kennedy or “RFK” as he is popularly known, has sought to shake off the “vaccine sceptic” image from the past, and project himself instead as one who sticks with the science. The USFDA, now under his department, had come in for severe criticism in the past, as he called for the corrupt in the system to be sent packing.
A pharma industry representative told businessline that RFK’s stated intent seeking scientific evidence could help bring in more efficiency into the process. As a country with the largest number of USFDA approved plants outside the US (over 600), the representative said, greater efficiency could speed up product approvals and not create shortages.
Tariff worries
Indian drugmakers are also bracing for a possible impact from tariffs, as pharmaceuticals feature in the segments named by US President Trump.
In the past, domestic pharma companies have pitched themselves as allies for affordable drugs – with countries including the US looking for supply chain alternatives to China. Industry estimates peg Indian pharma exports to the US at $8.7 billion (FY 2023-24).
But given the Trump administration’s “America first” approach, top-brass of Indian drugmakers have also begun pointing to facilities that they have in the US.
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As HHS secretary, RFK is in charge of several activities, besides overseeing a nearly $2 trillion budget. Institutions under his purview include the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Unlike last November, when he was nominated, this time around, major global and domestic pharmaceutical organisations have not commented on the HHS confirmation – an appointment that impacts their industry.
MAHA Commission
Meanwhile, RFK has got off the block with establishing the Make America Healthy Again Commission, putting the spotlight on chronic disease, mental illness and over-reliance on medicine.
Calling for a healthcare system that promotes health and not just manage disease, a HHS statement said, “To fully address the growing health crisis in America, we must re-direct our national focus, in the public and private sectors, toward understanding and drastically lowering chronic disease rates and ending childhood chronic disease. This includes fresh thinking on nutrition, physical activity, healthy lifestyles, over-reliance on medication and treatments, the effects of new technological habits, environmental impacts, and food and drug quality and safety. We must restore the integrity of the scientific process by protecting expert recommendations from inappropriate influence and increasing transparency regarding existing data.”
