Sarah Karlin-Smith
Senior Writer
Sarah specializes in the policy and politics that affect the pharmaceutical industry. She covers the US Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service and Congress and other parts of federal and state government. Her work explores how government policies influence how drugs are developed and approved, what diseases are prioritized by scientists, and who gets access to medicines and at what cost. Sarah has covered health care since 2011. Prior to returning to the Pink Sheet in March 2020, she covered health policy at Politico for five years. She is a regular panelist on the Kaiser Health News 'What the Health' podcast. Sarah was selected for and attended a 2018 International Women’s Media Foundation reporting fellowship in Rwanda. In 2016, she attended Harvard Medical School’s media fellowship on bioethics and, in 2014, was an Association of Health Care Journalists-National Library of Medicine Fellow.
Latest From Sarah Karlin-Smith
Lilly CEO: Realistic Expectations Needed For Current Wave of Alzheimer’s Treatments
Successive waves of Alzhiemer’s therapies are going to be needed, David Ricks said as his company awaits Phase III data on donanemab, the last of three late-stage anti-amyloid drugs to report results.
New FDA Fecal Transplant Guidance Should Ease Ferring’s Path To Commercialization
Final guidance excludes stool banks, putting in place more limited enforcement discretion regarding the requirement of an investigational new drug application for use of fecal transplants to treat C. diff infections, likely paving way for shift to any FDA-approved product.
Beyond mRNA: FDA’s Marks Calls For Platform Agnostic Search For Better COVID Vaccines
Marks opines on what sponsors would need to do to bring a ‘better’ vaccine to market in a NEJM interview. Meanwhile, CDC releases real world data on estimated bivalent booster efficacy.
Departing Words: Merck’s Ken Frazier Cautions Against Profit Maximization
Pharma CEOs must balance optimizing access and profitability, former Merck CEO and soon-to-be ex executive chairman of the company said. Frazier says health care industry must come to table and admit the “system ain’t working,” talks about the need to protect democracy, in a sweeping interview at the STAT Summit.
Political Trials On All Sides: Lilly CEO Laments Loss Of ‘Chamber of Commerce Republicans’
David Ricks says the challenging political environment is empowering regulators. The Lilly leader also talked Twitter and drug prices, in a STAT Summit interview.
Departing Words: Merck’s Ken Frazier Cautions Against Profit Maximization
Pharma CEOs must balance optimizing access and profitability, former Merck CEO and soon-to-be ex executive chairman of the company said. Frazier says health care industry must come to table and admit the “system ain’t working,” talks about the need to protect democracy, in a sweeping interview at the STAT Summit.