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PHARMA Trump’s tweets, therapeutic T cells, and a turning point for gene therapy were just a few topics that made headlines in 2017 or drugmakers, the year opened with uncertainty about an unconventional new Administration in Washington. The industry braced itself for public scrutiny, and it came swiftly in the form of President Donald J. Trump’s barbed remarks in press conferences and on Twitter about the high price of drugs and how he will rein them in. So far, those promises have been empty, but the focus on the high cost of health care isn’t going away. Every few months of 2017 brought a new face of drug industry greed. Under new leadership, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration began to make it harder for bad actors to keep prices on old drugs high. Despite the pressure on cost, the industry had many moments to shine in 2017. The first genetically engineered T-cell therapies were approved, and a gene therapy is on the cusp of reaching people with a rare form of blindness. Moreover, the year brought yet another new crop of well-funded companies working on the edges of technology—next-generation cellular therapies, the gene-editing technology CRISPR, and other tools in search of the next wave of therapeutic advances.
CR E D I T: YA N G H . KU/C & E N /S H UT TE RSTO C K
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In brief ▸ Navigating an unpredictable Administration P.34 ▸ CAR-T cancer immunotherapy took off P.35 ▸ A whirlwind year for the drug industry P.36 ▸ Good marks for FDA’s new chief P.38 ▸ M&A on pace to hit industry’s ‘new normal’ P.39 ▸ Gene therapy came of age P.40 ▸ Another strong year for earlystage biotech investment P.41 ▸ The spotlight was on drug prices, again P.42 ▸ Sidelined by data P.43 ▸ The opioid crisis got worse P.44
DECEMBER 4, 2017 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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