The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America has named Eric Cantor, a former House Majority Leader and global business executive, as its next president and chief executive officer. He will assume the President & CEO role on November 9, succeeding Stephen J. Ubl, who has led PhRMA since 2015 and will remain a strategic advisor through January 15, 2027. Cantor represented Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2000 to 2014 and served as House Majority Leader from 2011 to 2014. During his congressional career, he was a prominent defender of the pharmaceutical industry and opposed Democrat-led proposals for Medicare price controls. He also helped advance the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act, Medicare Part D and the 21st Century Cures Act, which increased support for the National Institutes of Health and included Food and Drug Administration reforms intended to accelerate medicine approvals. Since leaving Congress after losing a 2014 Republican primary to Dave Brat, Cantor has been vice chairman and managing director of Moelis & Company, where he advises organizations and executives on strategy, mergers and acquisitions, public policy and global economic issues. He will continue serving on Moelis' board while leading PhRMA. The appointment comes as the drugmakers' trade group faces heightened scrutiny of pricing practices from the Trump administration and Congress, alongside growing competition from China. Cantor said his priorities include expanding patient access, using artificial intelligence to accelerate drug discovery and supporting the industry's workforce. PhRMA represents innovative biopharmaceutical research companies, whose members have invested more than $850 billion in new treatments and cures over the last decade while supporting nearly five million U.S. jobs.