Eric Cantor, the former Republican House majority leader, is set to become CEO of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the brand-drug industry's top lobbying group, according to an announcement Tuesday. He steps into the role as drug pricing has become a rare point of convergence in an increasingly populist political climate.
The Trump administration is trying to codify into law voluntary agreements it struck with more than two dozen companies to lower U.S. pharmaceutical prices to levels seen in peer countries. Democrats are also interested in that approach, known as most-favored nation pricing, and are considering adding international prices to the criteria Medicare uses in drug price negotiations.
Cantor's appointment places a prominent political figure at the head of an industry facing pressure from both parties, signaling how central drug costs have become to the national policy debate.