PhRMA Forum 2026 highlights the importance of fostering the next era of American leadership

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America's innovation ecosystem is the envy of the world. This is the result of bipartisan policy choices that reward risk, protect innovation and inspire progress. Our unmatched ecosystem builds on the foundation and vision set 250 years ago: to promote innovation, science and discovery.

At this year’s PhRMA Forum, leading experts across health care, technology and policy discussed the trends shaping the future of the biopharmaceutical industry and the critical importance of protecting our leadership in medical innovation.

Our leadership is on the line as we face growing competition from China.
China has made biotechnology a national priority, investing heavily in R&D while strengthening its regulatory process. Companies headquartered in China now make up 30% of global clinical trials, up from just 5% a decade ago. And they are projected to surpass the United States in the coming years.

As CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said during the Forum, “It’s a national security imperative that we maintain hegemony with the innovative leadership that already exists in the pharmaceutical sector.”

It’s not only external challenges we face. Rising populism has fueled skepticism toward our scientific and regulatory institutions and renewed calls for price controls.
Growing scrutiny in science and technology is undermining the very system that produces lifesaving medicines. Restoring trust requires transparent, consistent, science-driven decision making.

At the same time, aggressive price controls are being put forward as a quick fix for affordability and access, but patients rarely see the benefits. Instead, savings go to middlemen like insurance companies who determine what medicines are covered, what patients pay and the hoops they have to jump through.

To maintain U.S. leadership, we need solutions that target the root cause of patient frustrations while preserving our global competitiveness.
America is the only country in the world where 50 cents of every dollar spent on brand medicine goes to entities that don’t make them. We should build on the reforms recently passed by Congress to ensure patients pay the discounted price, not the inflated prices often charged by PBMs and insurers. To do this, we must:

Address the growing consolidation and vertical integration among insurers, PBMs and others who use these tactics to avoid transparency and evade accountability.
Tackle the growing rate of denials by health insurers.
Challenge the growth in health care spending driven by large, consolidated hospital systems. These hospitals are abusing the 340B program, designed to help vulnerable and low-income patients, to pad their profits.

The health care system is evolving as new models emerge to make medicines more accessible and affordable for patients and employers. Judi Health CEO A.J. Loiacono expressed optimism during a Forum panel, “I’m very excited by the progress we’ve all been making to create efficiency…When there’s efficiency in the market, there’s confidence in the experience of the patient.”

We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to harness AI to tackle our biggest health care challenges.
AI is radically shaping how we discover medicines, allowing companies to better identify disease pathways and design molecules. It’s also making clinical trials faster, cheaper and more effective, helping us to close the gap with China. This scientific and technological revolution will enable scientists to cure more diseases, lower costs and create a more patient-centered health care system for the future.

Experts at the forefront of AI discovery explained how this technology is transforming science, revolutionizing how we bring new treatments to patients and why America needs to harness AI to accelerate treatments and cures. “We are entering this profound moment of change for this industry…The rate at which we’re able to discover and design new molecules is just increasing and accelerating at this massive clip,” said Jack Dent Co-Founder & CEO, Chai Discovery.

Despite the uncertainty these shifts are creating, there has never been a more promising time to tackle disease.

I am confident that our industry, policymakers and other ecosystem partners can come together to maintain our country’s biopharmaceutical leadership and build the next generation of American innovation.

Learn more about PhRMA Forum here, read about our campaign to champion America’s biopharmaceutical leadership here and watch my interview with CNBC below.

Stephen J. Ubl

Stephen J. Ubl is president and chief executive officer of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which represents America’s leading biopharmaceutical research companies. The U.S. biopharmaceutical sector directly employs more than 800,000 Americans and invests more than $100 billion in research and development annually – more than any other industry in America.

Ubl leads PhRMA’s work preserving and strengthening a health care and economic environment that encourages medical innovation, new drug discovery and access to life-saving medicines. Ubl is recognized around the world as a leading health care advocate and policy expert who collaborates successfully with diverse stakeholder groups – including patient and physician groups, regulators, public and private payers, and global trade organizations – to help ensure timely patient access to innovative treatments and cures. The New York Times writes, “If anyone can find areas of agreement with the critics, or at least work productively with them, it may be Mr. Ubl. He is more conversant with the intricacies of health policy, and more adept at the politics."

Previously, Ubl served as president and CEO of medical technology association AdvaMed, where he helped facilitate landmark reforms related to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration product review process and Medicare’s coverage and reimbursement of medical technologies. He led the industry’s defense of breakthrough R&D, successfully delaying an innovation-stifling device tax, and, in 2013, was recognized by a leading industry publication as one of 10 people to have a lasting impact on the medical technology industry.

Ubl has worked extensively with patient advocacy organizations in health policy, including longstanding service on the board of the National Health Council, a leading umbrella organization for voluntary health care organizations and has been personally involved with JDRF (formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation).

He is routinely recognized as one of Washington’s most effective advocates. Ubl has been recognized on Business Insider’s “DC Healthcare Power Players” and Modern Healthcare’s “100 Most Influential People in Healthcare.” He is identified as a top health influencer by Medical Marketing & Media and PR Week magazines.

https://x.com/steveubl

https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveubl/

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