“Dr. Monica Bertagnolli is an intelligent and caring person, but 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,” Sanders said in a statement. “I intend to vote NO at her confirmation hearing on Wednesday."
Democrats hold only a one-seat majority on the panel. No committee Republicans have publicly said they would support her.
Sanders last week held a confirmation hearing for Bertagnolli, after refusing for months to hold a hearing until the Biden administration provided concrete plans for lowering prescription drug costs. He relented in September after the federal government reworked a contract with drug company Regeneron for a new COVID-19 therapy.
During the hearing last week, Bertagnolli told Sanders she would "commit to working to make sure that the benefits of our research are affordable and available to all the American people," but declined to get into specifics.
On Monday, Sanders called for an investigation into the NIH's recent decision to grant an exclusive patent license for a cervical cancer treatment to an "obscure" pharma company linked to a former NIH employee.
In a statement to The Hill, the White House praised Bertagnolli without addressing Sanders's vote.
“Dr. Bertagnolli is a world-class physician-scientist whose vision and leadership will ensure NIH continues to be an engine of innovation to improve the health of the American people," a White House official said. "We look forward to continuing to work with the Senate to get Dr. Monica Bertagnolli confirmed quickly.”
