After ‘disruption’ at FDA, Rick Pazdul thinks we need to ‘think creatively’

Elaine’s story explores the boom in new obesity treatments, new drug payment models, the impact of FDA changes on companies, and the emerging psychedelic drug sector. She is a co-author of The Readout Newsletter and co-host of STAT’s weekly biotech podcast, The Readout Loud. Elaine can be reached at signal elaineywchen.70.

CHICAGO — Rick Pazdur, the Food and Drug Administration’s former head of oncology regulation, said the damage done under recent political appointees opens an opportunity for new leadership to fundamentally reshape the agency, especially as China’s drug industry becomes more competitive.

“We’ve experienced a lot of destruction here, but that doesn’t mean we need to just go back and say, let’s rebuild the way it was,” under the leadership the Trump administration has appointed, Pazdur said Friday night at a STAT event during the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting. “This gives us a great opportunity to think about how we want to build it, what kind of staff we want to have, what we want the management structure to be.”

He said the FDA is losing many valuable experts and one way to strengthen its workforce is to “think creatively” by bringing in academics and pharmaceutical industry talent for one- or two-year terms.

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