As a new, erratic administration consolidated its position in the White House and firmed its foundations in the federal government, 2017 turned out to be uncertain for the biopharma industry. Then President-elect Donald Trump saying that the industry was getting away with murder on pricing did not bode well for the industry but more than a year later after the President assuming office, real reform has been spared for biopharma.

There were several moments of conflict with industry leaders and the President. The most notable instance was when Merck & Co CEO, Kenneth Frazier, quit Trump’s executive advisory board, angered by his response to a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Johnson & Johnson was sued by Pfizer in a lawsuit that had the potential to change the functionalities of the U.S. biosimilar market, a costly cyberattack was suffered by Merck while a massive downsizing round was announced by Teva. A CEO transition was announced by Novartis while GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly and Teva got new CEOs to handle operations.

The time is also noted for path-breaking scientific advancements, by drug manufacturers. The first CAR-T approvals were won by Novartis and Gilead respectively for Kymriah and Yescarta. Spark Therapeutics succeeded in winning a bid for gene therapy Luxturna. Prevailing payment models would be vastly challenged in a wave of next-gen, highly priced treatments for cancer and genetic diseases.