0821 GMT - U.S. president Trump's pro-innovation stance could boost new drug discoveries, Novartis chief executive officer Vas Narasimhan tells CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "The Biden administration put in place some policies with the Inflation Reduction Act that were pretty damaging for the innovation ecosystem," Narasimhan says. Biden's IRA included Medicare's drug-price negotiation law, widely seen as negative by the industry. While the nomination of vaccine-skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the country's health department poses a challenge for the sector, Narasimhan emphasizes the need to find common ground with the new administration, especially on preventing diseases like cancer and heart attacks. "There's obviously areas of disagreement, but I think overall, this is actually going to be a better environment for us than the past four years," Narasimhan says. (helena.smolak@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 21, 2025 03:21 ET (08:21 GMT)

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