Make that two new boards in two days for former FDA chief Scott Gottlieb. One day after the former commissioner joined FasterCures’ advisory board, he took up a position on the board of directors at healthcare data startup Aetion on Tuesday.
After encouraging use of real-world evidence (RWE) as FDA commissioner, Gottlieb stepped down in April. Since then, he’s joined the board of Pfizer and accepted roles at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank; and the New Enterprise Associates venture capital firm, among other organizations.
And on Tuesday, he announced his latest post-FDA commitment. At Aetion, he’ll advise the startup as it works to promote its evidence platform, a tool to assess safety, efficacy and value of medical treatments.
In a statement, Gottlieb said he’s “inspired by the opportunity to join the company’s efforts to bring RWE to the forefront of drug research and development.” Aetion CEO Carolyn Magill said he’s an “ideal partner in our work to help define RWE’s role in the development, delivery and payment of treatment.”
The startup’s high-profile board appointment follows a $27 million series B extension in February, bringing the round to a total of $63 million, FierceBiotech reported. Sanofi, UCB and others joined the round. At the time, Aetion said its evidence platform was used by eight of the top 15 global biopharma companies, plus payers and the FDA.
At the FDA, Gottlieb was a proponent of real-world evidence and moved to increase its use in agency decisionmaking. He said in December that real-world evidence can “complement, augment and expand our understanding of how best to use medical products—improving what we know about our medical care.” R
At the time, the agency released a strategic approach for using real-world data to “inform and shape the FDA’s decisions across our drug and biologic development efforts.” Previously, the 21st Century Cures Act in 2016 required the agency to develop a strategy for using such data.
Aetion’s board appointment was Gottlieb’s second post-FDA commitment in as many days. On Monday, he joined the advisory board of FasterCures, a Milken Institute nonprofit that aims to bring various players in the drug development process together to speed up R&D.
Aside from those roles, Gottlieb is a board member at Pfizer, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a partner at New Enterprise Associates. NEA is an investor in Aetion.
Gottlieb left the FDA in April after serving as commissioner for about two years. In resigning, the former commissioner said he wanted to be closer to his family.