Jumping on board
Every living former FDA commissioner has served on the board of a biopharmaceutical company — Califf is no exception.
If President Joe Biden nominates Robert Califf as FDA commissioner, senators and the press will scrutinize the links to the biopharma industry he has cultivated since he stepped down as commissioner in January 2017.
Califf is head of clinical policy and strategy for Google parent-company Alphabet’s Verily Life Sciences and Google Health. He serves on the boards of Cytokinetics Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK), Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:CNTA) and Clinetic. In conflict of interest statements appended to journal articles published after he stepped down as FDA commissioner, Califf disclosed receiving fees from Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB), Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, the Genentech Inc. unit of Roche (SIX:ROG; OTCQX:RHHBY), Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY) and Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK). ...