The latest stories from healthcare and the life sciences in the US. RFK Jr shares his 128 recommendations for addressing childhood chronic disease; Suspension of Capsida’s gene therapy clinical trial after patient death; Courts half another attempt to challenge the IRA’s negation program; Takeda scoops up former Lilly exec to lead the US; neuropsychiatry biotech LB Pharmaceuticals’ $285 million IPO; Trump moves to crack down on drug advertising.

Trump administration lays out its ‘Make America Healthy Again’ strategy (Financial Times)

The White House has set out health and food policy changes from reconsidering fluoride in drinking water to serving whole milk in schools in a sweeping set of recommendations unveiled by health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.

The “Make America Healthy Again Commission” strategy report is the culmination of months of work by government officials in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order to examine the root causes of chronic disease in children.

The 20-page report released on Tuesday contains policy recommendations for government agencies and calls for further research. If enacted, the policies could influence the economics of the healthcare, food and agriculture industries as well as public health.

 

Child dies in Capsida study of rare disease gene therapy (BioPharmaDrive)

Capsida Biotherapeutics has suspended a recently begun clinical trial of an experimental gene therapy after the first participant in the study died following treatment.

Capsida disclosed the death in a letter to the patient community for the rare neurodevelopmental disease its gene therapy is designed to treat. In it, the biotechnology company noted it has informed the Food and Drug Administration and will soon provide regulators a full report of the patient’s death.

 

Appeals court knocks back Novartis’ IRA challenge one week after rejecting bid by BMS, J&J (Fierce Pharma)

It was another swing and a miss for the biopharma industry on Thursday, when a federal appeals court in Philadelphia unanimously rejected a challenge by Novartis on the legality of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Medicare price negotiation program.

It was the second time this month that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit swatted away an IRA challenge from Big Pharma. Last week, the same three-judge panel turned back an appeal from Bristol Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson, although that decision was split.

 

Takeda appoints Rhonda Pacheco President of the US business unit (Business Wire)

Takeda has announced that Rhonda Pacheco, most recently group vice president of U.S. Cardiometabolic Health at Eli Lilly, will join Takeda, effective September 29, as president of Takeda’s US Business Unit. Pacheco will succeed Julie Kim, who was appointed by the Takeda Board of Directors to succeed Christophe Weber as president and CEO of Takeda in June 2026. 

 

LB Pharmaceuticals raises $285M in first major biotech IPO since February (BioPharmaDrive)

LB Pharmaceuticals raised $285 million in an initial public offering on Wednesday, marking the first sizable new stock offering for a young biotechnology company in more than half a year.

 

Trump directs FDA to limit DTC drug advertising, with legal challenges sure to follow (FiercePharma)

President Donald Trump has delivered another blow in his ongoing battle with the pharma industry, signing a memorandum that directs the FDA to rein in direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertising.

The initiative, which has long been a priority for Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is designed to roll back a 1997 policy shift that gave drugmakers a greater ability to advertise their products on television by relaxing the requirements on the information they must reveal about a treatment’s side effects.

In his directive, Trump cited the power of the FDA—vested by Congress in 1962—to regulate drug advertisements, ensuring they provide balanced information on benefits and risks of products.