Talk Bio

Vinay Prasad, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), is officially departing the FDA at the end of April 2026 1 Prasad initially took a temporary leave of absence from UC San Francisco and only planned to remain at the FDA for one year 1 He was under investigation by the FDA as of late February 2026 after complaints of fostering a toxic workplace, including allegations of retaliation against subordinates and verbally berating staff 1 During his 10-month tenure since May 2025, Prasad presided over controversial regulatory decisions including rejecting several rare disease therapies and issuing a refuse-to-file letter to Moderna for its influenza vaccine candidate, which was reversed a week later 1 Prasad reportedly had conflicts with multiple colleagues including Nicole Verdun, former director of cell and gene therapy reviews, and George Tidmarsh, former CDER director, who attributed the toxic work environment to Prasad 1 FDA Commissione...