Balaji S Srinivasan of 21 Inc and Counsyl has met with President-elect Donald Trump about the future of the US Food and Drug Administration.
Srinivasan or BSS as he calls himself on his personal blog, is the founder of two early-stage Silicon Valley start-ups: bitcoin payments company 21 Inc and Counsyl- which helps determine Down syndrome in unborn babies.
Srinivasan and another tech investor tied to PayPal co-founder and Trump transition team member Peter Thiel, Mithril Capital Management managing director of investment Jim O’Neill, both met with Trump.
The duo is being considered for a top FDA position, incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in a report.
Srinivasan also serves as a partner at VC firm Andreessen Horowitz.
The Indian American executive has been on record in the past criticising the FDA, saying “big bad pharma does exist,” adding that the administration “sets the incentives.”
Srinivasan is a Silicon Valley evangelist with a doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford University, where he was also teaching data mining, statistics and computational biology.