A key U.S. Food and Drug Administration official who oversees vaccines and biotech treatments will step down from the agency following multiple decisions that raised concerns within the industry.
Vinay Prasad, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, will leave the FDA at the end of April, an agency spokesperson confirmed on Friday. It is his second departure from the position: He briefly left the post in July following backlash over his regulatory decisions, and returned only two weeks later in August.
In a post on X, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said the FDA will appoint a successor before Prasad returns next month to the University of California, San Francisco, where he taught before taking the FDA position last year. Makary said Prasad “got a tremendous amount accomplished” during his tenure at the agency.
