FDA fills four senior roles, including top officials for drugs, vaccines and tobacco

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The administration of President Donald Trump filled four senior positions at the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, promoting several officials who had been serving in acting roles to permanently fill the spots, including the agency’s top leaders for drugs and vaccines.

The announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA, gives the agency some stability following months of controversy and upheaval that led to a series of high-profile departures earlier this year.

The announcement names permanent directors for three of the agency’s six centers: drugs, vaccines and biologics and tobacco products. All three areas have seen major policy shifts under the Trump administration and attracted scrutiny from consumer groups, physicians and Democrats in Congress.

Dr. Michael Davis was named to lead the agency’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the agency’s largest center responsible for the safety and effectiveness of prescription and over-the-counter drugs. He'd been serving in an acting role since the departure of Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg, who said she was fired from the job in May. Hoeg’s brief time at the agency mainly focused on scrutinizing antidepressants, COVID shots and other drugs used in children.

Davis had previously worked as a leader in the FDA's psychiatric drug division before briefly leaving government to work at a nonprofit pursuing the development of psychedelic drugs. He returned to the FDA as a deputy director last year.

As the FDA’s top drug regulator, Davis will be in a position to oversee the review of a series of upcoming psychedelic drugs being studied for psychiatric conditions, including psilocybin, MDMA and LSD. Both Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy have emphasized the need to speed up reviews of psychedelics.

HHS also named Karim Mikhail to take over as director of FDA's vaccines center on a permanent basis. Mikhail, a pharmacist and longtime pharmaceutical executive, joined the FDA last spring and stepped into the vaccines spot after the resignation of Dr. Vinay Prasad.

Prasad stepped down in March following numerous controversies surrounding vaccines, gene therapies and biotech drugs. It was his second time leaving the role in less than a year, following complaints from biotech executives and patient groups over the handling of new drugs targeting rare diseases.

Prasad was also an outspoken critic of the agency’s approach to COVID-19 vaccines. Working with former Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, Prasad developed stringent new requirements for the development of updated COVID-19 shots. Among other steps, the policy requires vaccine-makers to conduct new, lengthy studies before tweaked vaccines can be approved for healthy adults and children.

Makary resigned from the agency in May after months of complaints from health industry executives, anti-abortion activists and tobacco companies. The frustration with him came to a head over the agency’s lack of movement on flavored e-cigarettes, which are a priority for large and small vaping companies.

Since his departure, the agency has cleared a series of new products, including new varieties of nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes.

The agency announced that Bret Koplow, an attorney and career FDA official, would become director of the Center for Tobacco Products. He’d been serving in an acting role since the ouster of the previous director early in the Trump administration.

A fourth official, Jared Seehafer, will serve in a newly created position overseeing artificial intelligence and technology, according to the government announcement.

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