Leadership Shake-Up: What’s Next for FDA?
Acting FDA commissioner Norman E. Sbarpless
US
Dr. Norman E. Sharpless has been named as the acting commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), following Dr. Scott Gottlieb’s resignation.
Gottlieb, served as FDA commissioner since 2017, after having served as a clinical assistant professor at the New York University School of Medicine. He gave his notice just one day after he put 12 US retail chains on notice for allegedly doing little to halt the sale of tobacco products to minors.
Prior to this Sharpless was at the National Cancer Institute, where he was sworn in as the 15th director in late 2017. Sharpless’ interim appointment could result in adversarial legislation for products like cigarettes and e-cigarettes, as he was an enthusiastic supporter of Gottlieb’s aggressive push to increase tobacco and e-cigarette regulations.
Sharpless is also familiar with the biotechnology industry and the drug-development process. He has co-founded two early-stage biotech companies: G1 Therapeutics, a developer of cancer drugs that raised $108.6 million in a 2017 initial public offering, and HealthSpan Diagnostics, a developer of blood tests.