Senate votes to confirm new NIH leader

The Senate on Tuesday voted to confirm Monica Bertagnolli as head of the National Institutes of Health, marking the first time in nearly two years that the agency has a confirmed leader. 

Bertagnolli, a cancer surgeon who for the past year has led the National Cancer Institute, was confirmed in a 62-36 bipartisan vote.

The top post at the NIH has been vacant since Francis Collins left the agency in December 2021. Lawrence Tabak has served as acting director since. 

President Biden tapped Bertagnolli in May, but her nomination was stuck in limbo as Senate Health Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) refused to hold a hearing. 

Sanders has expressed anger at the Biden administration for failing to do enough to lower prescription drug prices, and vowed to oppose every Biden health nominee until the administration took concrete action. 

He relented in September, saying he would allow a confirmation hearing after the Biden administration reworked a contract with pharmaceutical company Regeneron for new COVID-19 therapies. 

Sanders and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) both voted against Bertagnolli on the floor because they said she would not take on the drug industry. Every other Democrat voted for her.

“We need to take on Big Pharma and work aggressively to bring down drug costs. That means we need a NIH Director who is committed to these goals and is ready to take on the industry. While I believe that Dr. Bertagnolli is highly qualified to serve in this role, I’m not convinced that she will take on Big Pharma,” Fetterman said in a statement ahead of the vote.

During her confirmation hearing, Sanders pressed Bertagnolli on whether she would reinstate an NIH requirement that forces companies to sell a drug at a “reasonable” price when it’s developed with research help from the federal government, as well as whether she would use “march-in” rights to forcibly lower drug costs. 

When she wouldn’t commit, Sanders ended up voting against her, but she advanced through the committee with bipartisan support.  

“We need an NIH director who’s prepared to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and use every tool at their disposal to substantially lower the extraordinarily high costs of medicine in this country,” Sanders said on the Senate floor.

“Dr. Monica Bertagnolli is an intelligent and caring person. But she has not convinced me that she is prepared to take on the greed and power of the drug companies and health care industry and fight for the transformative changes the NIH needs at this critical moment. That is why I will be voting no on her confirmation,” Sanders said.