Welcome to this week's Chutes and Ladders, our roundup of hirings and retirings throughout the industry. Please send the good word--or the bad--from your shop to Eric Sagonowsky (email) or Amirah Al Idrus (email | Twitter), and we will feature it here at the end of each week.
FDA's Robert Califf cleared for agency's top job |
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Dr. Robert Califf, President Barack Obama's pick to lead the FDA, won Senate confirmation this week and is slated to take the reins at the agency. Voting 89-4, senators handily approved the nominee, ignoring criticisms by some about Califf's industry ties and the FDA's policies on approving painkillers. Califf assumes the top job from his previous position of deputy FDA commissioner for medical products and tobacco; he's been up for the promotion since being named deputy in 2014 by ex-FDA director Margaret Hamburg. Under Hamburg, the FDA approved a record number of new drugs and introduced pathways to speed promising medicines to market. Those decisions triggered criticism that the agency has become too friendly with industry while putting patients at risk, an issue Califf will inherit. Prior to joining the FDA, he served as founding director at the Duke Clinical Research Institute, an organization with more than 1,000 employees and a budget of more than $100 million. Story
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