G2G Bio Bulletin – April 27, 2026

• Congress:
  • FY 2027 Appropriations:
    • The House Appropriations Committee has approved discretionary funding allocations for federal agencies covered by six of the tweleve appropriations bills. This allocation excludes bills funding DoD and most of HHS.
    • The Committee has already passed two of the twelve bills covering Financial Services and Military Construction & Veterans Affairs. They will next be considered by the entire House.
  • Hearings on the FY 2027 HHS Budget Request: Secretary Kennedy appeared before four Congressional committees this week to discuss his department’s budget request. Democrats continued to criticze Secretary Kennedy on changes to vaccine policies, cuts to NIH and Medicaid, and political interference in scientific decision making. Highlights on specific issues discussed are as follows:
    • House Energy & Commerce Committee, Health Subcommittee:
      • Family Planning & Maternal Health: Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO) assailed the request’s proposed elimination of Title X and CDC Safe Motherhood programs. In response to further questioning on Title X by Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-CA), Kennedy declined to comment citing ongoing litigation.
      • FDA & Domestic Manufacturing: In response to Rep. Erin Houchin (R-IN), the Secretary highlighted the FDA's Pre-Check Pilot Program as a means to accelerate approval of drug manufacturing facilities in the U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) highlighted whistleblower reports alleging rapant political interference in agency decision making, and denounced the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher (CNPV) program as a means to fast-track “politically favored treatments”.
      • Medicare Advantage: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Greg Landsman (D-OH) questioned the decision to increase reimbursement rates to insurers participating in the program, after HHS previously proposed a flat rate. Secretary Kennedy suggested that there would be substantial coverage loss if the original proposal advanced.
    • Senate Appropriations Committee, Labor, Health & Human Services and Related Agencies (LHHS) Subcommittee: 
      • Cuts: Republican Senators, including Subcommmitee Chair Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), expressed skepticism of how the department could fulfill delivery of rural health services with proposed funding cuts. Committee Chair Susan Collins highlighted how elimination of DEI and disparities research programs has effectively reduced women’s health R&D funding, including for conditions that disproportionately impact women like Alzheimer’s and autoimmune diseases. She further criticized the 15% indirect costs cap, noting that Congress rejected the same proposal last year.
      • 340B Program: Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) sought further information on audits to ensure 340B program integrity, and the proposal to move program oversight from HRSA to CMS. This exchange followed the Secretary's characterization of 340B as a “boondoggle” earlier in the day. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) also received a committment from Kennedy to hold a briefing on any new proposals to shift 340B to a rebate model, after Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) expressed reservations about such changes.
      • Drug Pricing: Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) asked for and recevied Secretary’s committment to provide details on the Administration’s deals with pharmaceutical companies, with the aim of advancing legislation to codify most favored nation (MFN) pricing and other cost control measures.
      • Gavi: In response to a question from Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) about delays in disbursing funds appropriated for Gavi, Secretary Kennedy indicated that the holdup stems in part from  disagreements over vaccine preference: the government favors use of the DTaP vaccine, while Gavi is seeking to continue use of the DTP vaccine.
    • Senate Finance Committee:
      • US Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF): Sen. John Barrasso, MD (R-WY) challenged the Secretary's prior dismissal USPSTF and its work, as well as the cancellation of its meetings. Kennedy claimed that the lack of USPTF activity stems in part from difficulties in recruiting a wider range of medical specialists to join the committee.
      • US R&D Primacy: Sens. Todd Young (R-IN) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) pressed the Secretary for more concrete actions to counter increasing Chinese dominance in licensing and intellectual property for biotechnology and pharmaceutical innovations.
      • TrumpRx: Democratic Senators disputed the Administration’s claims about lowering drug prices through TrumpRx. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) indicated that he would be offering a budget amendment to codify the Administration’s assertion that that the United States should not be paying higher prices than other countries.
    • Senate Health, Educaiton, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee:
      • CDC Leadership: Chair Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA) got Secretary Kennedy to commit to ensuring that the new CDC Director would "have the right to make decisions independently" of political appointees and have the power to "replace them or otherwise reassign them.”
      • Vaccine Safety: Chair Cassidy rebuked Kennedy's assertion that vaccines played no role in mortality rate reduction in the twentieth century, by directly citing the same study that Kennedy had attempted to use to justify his position.
      • AI and Drug Approvals: In response to questioning from Sen. Alan Armstrong (R-OK), Secretary Kennedy claimed that 90% of FDA staff were using Elsa, a generative AI tool, to speed up product review and evalution, and noted that two cancer drugs were recently approved in under 60 days.
  • Other Hearings:
    • House Education & Workforce Committee, Health Subcommittee: A hearing was convened on "Profits Over Patients: The PBM Business Model Under Scrutiny.” The hearing included discussion of legislation addressing PBM kickbacks, hidden fees, and step therapy, among other measures.
  • Legislation:
    • STEM Education & Training: Reps. Sarah McBride (D-DE) and Rich McCormick (R-GA) introduced the Biotechnology for All High School Students Act, which would establish a National Biotechnology Education Consoritum to provide recommendations on how to expand biotechnology education in schools and authorize the NSF to award grants to support implementation of such efforts. The legislation is endorsed by the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology (NSCEB) among other entities.
    • Biodefense: Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Ted Budd (R-NC) introduced the Enginering Biology Readiness Act which renews the reporting requirement for the National Biodefense Strategy, and directs an interagency coaltion to provide a report on risks posed by advances in engineering biology, which would include proposals to modernize biodefense governance.
    • Access to Healthcare: The House overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation on lung cancer prevention and to reauthorize rural health grant and telehealth programs.

• Administration & Agencies:
  • Coverage for Breakthrough Devices: On Thursday, CMS and FDA announced the Regulatory Alignment for Predictable and Immediate Device (RAPID) Coverage Pathway for Breakthrough Devices that are Class II or Class III. The program would facilitate earlier, coordinated CMS engagement with devicemakers and the FDA, to avoid long intervals between market approval and insurance coverage. Under the scheme, CMS will issue a proposed National Coverage Determination (NCD) the same day that an eligible device receives FDA market authorization, with the aim of  facilitating coverage and payment in as little as two months. As part this new pathway's implementation, the Transitional Coverage for Emerging Technologies (TCET) pathway will be paused.
  • CMS: The BALANCE pilot model to cover anti-obesity medications has been suspended due to lack of insurer participation. The Administration will instead extend the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program to pay for these drugs through 2027.
  • FDA: Following President Trump’s Executive Order last week, the agency has awarded CNPVs to three companies studying psychedelic drugs for treatment of depression and PTSD.
  • White House, Other HHS Divisions & Departments:
    • Drug Pricing Deals: The Administration has announced its latest deal on MFN pricing with Regeneron, which would add its products to TrumpRx. As part of the deal, Regeneron will invest $27 billion in US-based R&D and manufacturing activities
    • DoD: The agency has released thousands of pages of justifications for its proposed $1.5 trillion FY 2027 budget. Upon initial reading, proposed allocations for medical R&D and the Defense Health Program are lower than enacted FY 2026 levels.
    • NSF: On Friday, the Administration fired the entire National Science Board (NSB), which oversees NSF’s funding priorities and decisonmaking.
    • USAID: A federal judge has issued an opinion enabling former contractors to proceed with their lawsuit against the government, alleging unlawful termination of their agreements by the international development agency last year.

Reminder: Don’t miss the monthly GBG Report call every third Thursday of the month at 12 pm ET where the team discusses the latest federal life sciences funding opportunities. G2G has raised $612M and is eager to share our expertise to help companies grow and accelerate bringing innovations to patients.