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Posted On: 11/13/2025 8:04:33 AM
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Choice of New FDA Drug Chief Signals Shift in Trump Stance
The Food and Drug Administration has had a turbulent few months under the Trump administration, but the appointment of Dr. Richard Pazdur, a 26-year agency veteran, to lead its Center for Drug Evaluation and Research is a potential signal that things are changing.
Pazdur’s appointment “may signal a material change” in the approach of FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., wrote Raymond James healthcare policy analyst Chris Meekins. Before him, appointments created “significant uncertainty for patients and industry.”
Pazdur is the creator and director of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence, which works to speed cancer drug approvals. The center he will now lead makes decisions on most new medicines aside from vaccines and complex treatments.
Kennedy has spent his first few months at the helm of the department wreaking disruption at the agency. He has cut FDA staff, removed top leaders, and appointed Dr. Vinay Prasad to lead the FDA’s other drug review office.
A less-stormy FDA could be a catalyst for biotech stocks, which have been gaining in recent weeks as worries fade about President Trump’s tariff and drug pricing policies. White House recently struck deals with Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and other drugmakers.
What’s Next: The decision seemed to be taken as a sign of a shift away from the administration’s aggressive focus on remaking the FDA. Pazdur is “likely the best possible person for the role,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams wrote.
—Josh Nathan-Kazis and Janet H. Cho
Choice of New FDA Drug Chief Signals Shift in Trump Stance
The Food and Drug Administration has had a turbulent few months under the Trump administration, but the appointment of Dr. Richard Pazdur, a 26-year agency veteran, to lead its Center for Drug Evaluation and Research is a potential signal that things are changing.
Pazdur’s appointment “may signal a material change” in the approach of FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., wrote Raymond James healthcare policy analyst Chris Meekins. Before him, appointments created “significant uncertainty for patients and industry.”
Pazdur is the creator and director of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence, which works to speed cancer drug approvals. The center he will now lead makes decisions on most new medicines aside from vaccines and complex treatments.
Kennedy has spent his first few months at the helm of the department wreaking disruption at the agency. He has cut FDA staff, removed top leaders, and appointed Dr. Vinay Prasad to lead the FDA’s other drug review office.
A less-stormy FDA could be a catalyst for biotech stocks, which have been gaining in recent weeks as worries fade about President Trump’s tariff and drug pricing policies. White House recently struck deals with Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and other drugmakers.
What’s Next: The decision seemed to be taken as a sign of a shift away from the administration’s aggressive focus on remaking the FDA. Pazdur is “likely the best possible person for the role,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams wrote.
—Josh Nathan-Kazis and Janet H. Cho
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