Trump nominates former pharma exec to run HHS -- and vows he'll be a 'star' for lower drug prices

President Donald Trump on Monday nominated Alex Azar, a former pharmaceutical executive, to be his new secretary of the Health and Human Services Department.

"Happy to announce, I am nominating Alex Azar to be the next HHS Secretary," Trump wrote on Twitter. "He will be a star for better healthcare and lower drug prices!"

Prior to be nominated by Trump, Azar worked as the president of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company from 2012 to 2017. Azar also served as the former Deputy Secretary of the HHS under former President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2007.

As Daily Beast reporter Sam Stein notes, Azar is just the latest former corporate executive nominated by Trump to help shape regulations of the industry he had previously worked in.

In fact, a Daily Beast investigation into Trump nominees found that 145 out of Trump's 341 nominations to Senate-confirmed administration positions once worked directly for the industries they are now charged with regulating.