Richard Pazdur, founding director of FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence and long-time FDA visionary, has accepted the top job at FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research following George F. Tidmarsh’s dramatic ouster from the position.
“This is big. Because, you know, the whole field of oncology over the past 25 years—and [Pazdur has] run the oncology division and decided which drugs would get on the market, which drugs won't get on the market. Everybody is speaking ‘Pazdurese,’” said Paul Goldberg, editor and publisher of The Cancer Letter. “Even if you don't like Pazdur, you are speaking Pazdurese if you're doing oncology. And he's shaped it.
“I don't think anybody has had more impact on this field than he has,” Paul said. “So, now, here he is, and I suspect there's some people who are unhappy, but I think there's, what I'm sensing is a lot of dancing in the streets.”
In this episode of The Cancer Letter Podcast, Paul, Jacquelyn Cobb, associate editor of The Cancer Letter, and Claire Marie Porter, reporter, talk about the details of Tidmarsh’s departure and how Pazdur’s leadership may change FDA.
Tidmarsh resigned from his position Nov. 2 following a lawsuit by a former associate and a probe into what an HHS spokesperson described as “serious concerns about his personal conduct.”
"FDA is important to the industry,” Paul said. “The industry makes money by having a solid FDA, where people are competent, where decisions are made in a way that is at least explainable."
Solid FDA leadership is central to the success of the field of oncology.
“This is just as important as the fact that you know, the administration's plans to change over NIH and really gut it has been stopped,” Paul said. “This is as important as the fact that Tony [Anthony] Letai is now the NCI director.
Stories mentioned in this podcast include:
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A transcript of this podcast is available: https://cancerletter.com/podcastc/20251112-tidmarsh/