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ROME — When Tim Hunt, who leads an organization for cell and gene therapy makers, reached for some reasons for optimism for the jittery field at a conference here last week, he highlighted the recent approvals of rare disease treatments from the likes of Rocket Pharmaceuticals and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.

There was one other headline he touted as potentially promising: “FDA vaccine chief to leave the agency again.”

The allusion to Vinay Prasad — the Food and Drug Administration’s top regulator of gene and cell therapies as well as vaccines until his departure from the agency last week — was an indication that even at this event, designed to emphasize the opportunities and roadblocks the sector faces in Europe, it couldn’t escape the decisions that are coming from 4,500 miles away.

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So far, artificial intelligence company OpenAI’s work in health care has been largely limited to nonregulated areas. In January, the company released ChatGPT Health for consumers. Then, it launched ChatGPT for Healthcare for hospitals, followed by ChatGPT for Clinicians. 

Along with the launch of its chatbot for clinicians last month, OpenAI also published a wish list that the company described as a blueprint for unlocking AI’s potential to change the broader health care system. The policy proposals outlined in the document, experts told STAT, are somewhat reasonable, but they also disproportionately benefit the company. 

“They’re trying to have their cake and eat it too,” said David Blumenthal, a former national coordinator for health IT and a health policy professor at Harvard University. “They’re trying to potentially sound like responsible parties in the current conversation while at the same time wanting the markets to stay open for their products.”

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