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Senators press HHS on prediction markets tied to drug trials
Sens. Alsobrooks and Wyden asked HHS what it has done about prediction markets on clinical trials and FDA approvals, CNBC reported, citing a letter; Kalshi cited its own rules.
- New headline Was: “Prediction markets tied to clinical trials and drug approvals draw lawmakers' ire”
- Our desk filed its story
Sens. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. what measures the department has taken to limit risks from prediction-market contracts on clinical trials and Food and Drug Administration approvals, CNBC reported Wednesday, citing a letter the outlet said it obtained first1.
The senators wrote that allowing people to bet on the success of those trials and drugs "undermines the scientific process, creates perverse incentives for researchers," according to CNBC1. They also cited concerns that the markets could affect patients deciding whether to join a trial, and worry about insider trading by people with nonpublic information, CNBC said1.
They asked HHS for internal communications about staff participation in such markets, communications with prediction-market platforms and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and any internal analyses of the markets' impact, according to CNBC1. CNBC's report did not include an HHS response1.
Kalshi, which CNBC said offers such event contracts in the United States, said when it launched related markets in July that it would list only late-stage trials after enrollment was complete and would use employee-verification technology for traders, CNBC reported1. Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said in July, as quoted by CNBC, that drug-development data is "largely locked away from the people who need it most"1.
CNBC said Polymarket also offers the contracts, but only on its international exchange, which is not regulated in the United States1. CNBC disclosed a commercial relationship with Kalshi that includes customer acquisition and a minority investment1.
