Eric Cantor Named PhRMA President and CEO, Taking Helm Nov. 9

PhRMA, the main U.S. lobbying group for brand-name drugmakers, said Tuesday that former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor will become its next president and CEO, elevating a veteran Republican lawmaker and longtime Washington operator to one of the pharmaceutical industry’s most influential advocacy posts.

Cantor’s appointment takes effect Nov. 9. He will succeed Stephen J. Ubl, who has led the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America since 2015. Ubl will remain with the organization as a strategic adviser through Jan. 15, 2027, to support the transition.

The leadership change matters because PhRMA is the drug industry’s central trade association in Washington, representing major biopharmaceutical companies in policy fights over prescription drug prices, Medicare drug-pricing rules, Food and Drug Administration regulation, intellectual property and the role of pharmacy benefit managers and other middlemen in the drug supply chain. Its chief executive is a key public face for the industry at a time of sustained political pressure on medicine costs.

Cantor represented Virginia in the U.S. House and served as House majority leader from 2011 to 2014. Since leaving Congress, he has been vice chairman and managing director at investment bank Moelis & Co. PhRMA said he will continue to serve on Moelis’ board of directors while taking the trade group’s top job.

Rob Davis, PhRMA’s board chair and CEO of Merck, announced the selection on behalf of the board. “Eric is well respected among policy leaders in Washington and around the world, with a long track record of working effectively across the political spectrum to achieve important outcomes that have a lasting impact,” Davis said.

Cantor pointed in his statement to patient access and technology as priorities for his tenure. “The American biopharmaceutical industry leads the world. PhRMA's member companies operate at the cutting edge of science and technology seeking novel treatments and cures for both chronic and rare diseases. I'm honored to join in the industry's efforts to expand patient access, leverage the promise of AI to speed discovery, and be a champion for the hundreds of thousands of Americans working in the biopharmaceutical industry whose science improves, extends, and saves lives,” he said.

PhRMA had previously said on April 8 that Ubl planned to step down by the end of the year and that the board would conduct a search for his successor. Tuesday’s announcement identifies the person who will lead the group into its next round of high-stakes health policy battles in Washington.