Dive Temporary:
- UnitedHealth has added Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the Meals and Drug Administration, to its board of administrators because the healthcare behemoth continues to remake its management and governance groups.
- Gottlieb begins efficient instantly, UnitedHealth introduced Tuesday. The manager served as FDA commissioner from 2017 to 2019 throughout the first Trump administration and was well-respected throughout his tenure.
- Gottlieb is becoming a member of UnitedHealth throughout a tough inflection level because the managed care and well being companies big works to proper the ship following a sequence of operational, regulatory and PR crises.
Dive Perception:
UnitedHealth has struggled over previous few years amid rising medical bills, a expensive cyberattack, antitrust probes from federal regulators and different challenges. The highlight on the corporate additional elevated after its prime insurance coverage govt was publicly killed late final yr.
The string of crises has made traders skittish, and UnitedHealth’s worth has plummeted because of this. The corporate’s inventory stays down 39% this yr thus far, regardless of a turnaround plan that’s yielded some latest indicators of success.
Amid the broad spate of challenges, one precedence for Stephen Hemsley — the chairman of UnitedHealth’s board who grew to become CEO in Could following the abrupt departure of then-chief govt Andrew Witty — is to enhance the corporate’s relationship with regulators.
Gottlieb, who has years of expertise with regulatory companies, could possibly be an enormous assist with that.
Over his profession, Gottlieb has held a wide range of posts in the private and non-private sectors. In authorities, Gottlieb labored for the FDA, the CMS and the committee that advises the HHS on well being IT coverage earlier than being tapped as FDA commissioner in Could 2017.
Gottlieb was a typically standard selection, particularly in comparison with among the first Trump administration’s extra unconventional earlier candidates.
Throughout his tenure, Gottlieb inspired the FDA to speed up generic drug approvals, advance the broader use of copycat biosimilar medicine and work to fight the opioid disaster. Gottlieb targeted on points like e-cigarettes that had been beforehand much less of a precedence.
Although the FDA flagged anticompetitive issues below his management, Gottlieb was nonetheless seen favorably by the industries he regulated for getting the company to select up the tempo of drug and medical gadget approvals.
However after two years on the helm, Gottlieb stepped all the way down to spend extra time along with his household simply earlier than the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Since leaving the FDA, Gottlieb has labored as a senior fellow on the right-leaning suppose tank American Enterprise Institute and as a associate at enterprise capital agency New Enterprise Associates.
Gottlieb has additionally joined the boards of no less than seven well being tech and biopharmaceutical corporations. His appointment to the board of administrators of pharmaceutical big Pfizer, a scant three months after leaving the FDA, particularly sparked dialogue about “revolving door” conflicts of curiosity from executives leaping between regulatory companies and the businesses they oversee.
UnitedHealth declined to touch upon the explanation behind Gottlieb’s appointment. However in an announcement, Hemsley known as the manager an “innovator” advocating for “a extra built-in well being care strategy supported by the newest expertise.”
In the meantime, Gottlieb stated he seemed ahead to working with UnitedHealth, together with to “assist form how medical breakthroughs are developed and made accessible to sufferers who could profit from them.”
“I hope to leverage my expertise to assist suppliers of their supply of care that’s not solely extra modern but in addition extra reasonably priced, and that improves outcomes for sufferers and communities,” Gottlieb stated within the Tuesday launch.
Since turning into CEO, Hemsley has made plenty of adjustments to the corporate’s management — together with appointing a brand new CFO — and its board.
In August, UnitedHealth stated it might type a brand new “public accountability” board committee to enhance company governance, together with monitoring regulatory dangers.
UnitedHealth declined to touch upon if Gottlieb will serve on any particular committees.
