Behind the Headlines Episode 16: NIH Funding, Re-Shoring, Tariffs, and Cell and Gene Therapies

Behind the Headlines is a bi-weekly panel discussion examining the latest trends, readouts, and other factors that drive pharmaceutical news and innovation. Each episode features consultants, venture capitalists, scientists, patient advocates, and journalists discussing the prior weeks’ top news while seeking to highlight the more enduring lessons that hide behind the headlines.

In this episode, Donald Ingber, MD, PhD, founding director of Wyss Institute at Harvard University and co-founder of Emulate, Inc.; Miguel Forte, MD, PhD, president of the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy, board member of Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, and CEO of Kiji Therapeutics;Ali Pashazadeh, founder of Treehill Partners; and Adam Inche, PhD, CEO and founder of Lentitek, examine the fast-changing landscape of manufacturing re-shoring, tariffs, National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget cuts, and the outlook for cell and gene therapies (CGTs).

In a growing series of announcements, Roche joins the chorus of press releases announcing manufacturing investment into the United States pharmaceutical sector, pledging to spend approximately $50 Billion over five years and creating more than 12,000 manufacturing jobs (1). Novartis also announced investment in the US in April (2). These announcements improved leverage for Swiss President Karin Keller Sutter, who meet with senior US officials in Washington in April to try to reduce a threatened 31% US tariff on Swiss exports. Sutter argued these tariffs should be offset by considering the amount of medical device and diagnostic products made in the US by Roche, which are exporting all around the world.

"Our investments have also been aligned with the Swiss government and form part of the ongoing discussions between the US and Switzerland," a Roche spokesperson said (1), with the 12,000 new positions, including 6500 in construction and 1000 at new and expanded facilities, according to Roche (1). Regeneron also pledged $3 billion to Fujifilm to manufacture pharmaceuticals in the US (3).

The NIH is convulsing from deep fiscal and workforce cuts under the Trump administration. The new 15% cap on indirect cost reimbursements eliminates “$4 billion from over 2800 hospitals, universities, and research institutions nationwide, including utilities, maintenance, equipment purchases, and administrative support that laboratories need to produce high-quality research” (4). Whereas Harvard University, suffering uncertainty from a federal funding freeze, fought back in the courts stating, “Scientific advancement and the pursuit of knowledge fuel America’s innovation, economic success, and global leadership. The commitment to expanding human understanding is foundational at American universities, including Harvard, the Nation’s oldest institution of higher learning” (5).

And we round out the panel discussion with a look at the recent decline in investment for the CGT sector, in contrast to the burgeoning glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) class of weight loss drugs, when in overall global biopharma venture funding rose to $27 billion in 2024 from $23.2 billion in 2023. Cancer remained the top sector at $10.3 billion, according to DealForma (6).

References

1. Revill, J, Roche to Invest $50 Billion in US to Avoid Trump Tariffs, Create 12,000 Jobs. Reuters April 22, 2025.

2. Wingrove, P. Novartis Plans to Invest $23 Billion in US Sites as Trump Renews Drug Tariff Threats. Reuters. April 11, 2025.https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/novartis-plans-invest-23-billion-us-plants-trump-renews-drug-tariff-threats-2025-04-10/

3. GEN. FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies and Regeneron Sign 10-year, $3+ Billion U.S. Manufacturing Deal. Genegnews.com. April 24. 2025

4. Sabet, C.J.Medical Research Funding Cuts Will Save Money and Spend Lives, Correspondence, 2025 405 (10487) p1337-1338, April 19, 2025, Lancet https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)00544-6/fulltext

5. Harvard. Harvard Funding Freeze Order Complaint. In The United States District Court for the District Of Massachusetts. Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief. Harvard.edu. https://www.harvard.edu/research-funding/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2025/04/Harvard-Funding-Freeze-Order-Complaint.pdf

6. Beasley, D, Gene Therapy Loses Luster as Investors Eye Quicker Returns from Weight-loss Drugs. Reuters, March 21, 2025