FDA
Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Director Vinay Prasad will exit the FDA for the second time after a controversial run that saw the oncologist butt heads with colleagues and ruffle feathers in biopharma after presiding over the rejection of several rare disease therapies.
The FDA granted Johnson & Johnson a Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher in December 2025 after the combination of Darzalex and Tecvayli improved progression-free survival by 83%. The new approval is for second-line treatment of the blood cancer.
UniQure does not have to drill placebo burr holes in the skulls of patients with Huntington’s disease, an unnamed FDA senior official said on Thursday. Instead, the company would anesthetize them and put “one to three nicks” in their scalp.
Adam Urato, who is currently a vaccine advisor to the CDC, is closely associated with acting CDER director Tracy Beth Høeg and is a fellow skeptic of the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors during pregnancy.
UniQure and REGENXBIO are both dealing with FDA setbacks for their respective gene therapies, as regulatory experts question the FDA’s decision-making processes; CBER director Vinay Prasad is under probe for allegedly fostering a toxic workplace; Sarepta CEO Doug Ingram is stepping down after several years of tumult at the top of the muscular dystrophy–focused company; and Eli Lilly again tops Novo Nordisk in a weight loss trial.
While an anonymous source tied the closure to shortcomings in the FDA’s new pathway, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services pushed back on the suggestion.
In a complete response letter published by the FDA on Monday, the agency said a resubmission for REGENXBIO’s Hunter syndrome gene therapy should provide evidence of normalized or improved biomarker levels or neurodevelopmental outcomes.
FDA decisions lack majority consensus, experts agree, possibly leading to less nuanced verdicts on new drug applications. This type of “fiat” decision-making, as multiple regulatory experts have called it, is also bleeding into the agency’s policymaking.
Yuviwel will compete with BioMarin’s Voxzogo. Meanwhile, BridgeBio is working to bring its own achondroplasia drug, the FGFR3 blocker infigratinib, to the market.
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary presented a new idea to staff this week: bonus payments for employees that complete regulatory review processes faster than expected.
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