WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The Food and Drug Administration\u2019s polarizing vaccine chief is leaving the agency after a brief tenure that drew the ire of biotech executives, patient groups and conservative allies of President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
Dr. Vinay Prasad \u201cdid not want to be a distraction\u201d and was stepping down from his role as the FDA\u2019s top vaccine regulator \u201cto spend more time with his family,\u201d a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement late Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Two people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that Prasad was ousted following several recent controversies. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel matters. Prasad did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
Prasad joined the FDA<\/a> in May after years as an academic researcher at the University of California San Francisco, where he frequently criticized the FDA\u2019s approach to drug approvals and COVID-19 vaccines.<\/p>\n His contrarian approach appeared to match FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, who repeatedly praised Prasad\u2019s work and intellect.<\/p>\n But in recent weeks Prasad became a target of right-wing activists, including Laura Loomer<\/a>, who flagged Prasad\u2019s past statements criticizing Trump and praising liberal independent Senator Bernie Sanders.<\/p>\n \u201cHow did this Trump-hating Bernie Bro get into the Trump admin???\u201d Loomer posted on X last week.<\/p>\n Trump previously fired several national security officials<\/a> a day after Loomer raised concerns about their loyalty.<\/p>\n Prasad also attracted scrutiny for his handling of a recent safety issue surrounding the only approved gene therapy for Duchenne\u2019s muscular dystrophy.<\/p>\n Under his direction, shipments of the therapy were briefly halted<\/a> after a series of patient deaths, then resumed late Monday<\/a> following vocal pushback from families of boys with the fatal muscle-wasting disorder.<\/p>\n Prasad has long been skeptical of the therapy<\/a> and other muscular dystrophy drugs sold by the drugmaker, Sarepta Therapeutics. As an academic, Prasad gained prominence by attacking the FDA for being too lenient in its standards for approving cancer drugs and other new therapies.<\/p>\n That approach is at odds with Trump\u2019s Republican supporters, who generally favor speedier approvals and unfettered access to experimental treatments. During Trump\u2019s first term he signed the \u201c Right to Try<\/a> \u201d law, a largely symbolic piece of legislation that won popular support from conservatives seeking to give dying patients expanded access to unproven drugs.<\/p>\n Prasad\u2019s decision to pause Sarepta\u2019s therapy was criticized last week by a columnist and the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n Separately, Prasad\u2019s division issued rejection letters this month to three small biotech firms seeking approval for new gene therapies. <\/p>\n Those therapies have been vigorously embraced many of the anti-abortion groups in Trump\u2019s base for their potential to address intractable diseases that sometimes lead parents to terminate pregnancies.<\/p>\n