Pfizer hires ex-FDA drug chief as top doctor

The former head of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) drug division is joining Pfizer as its chief medical officer, the company announced Monday.

Patrizia Cavazzoni was formerly director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) from 2020 until January, when she resigned just ahead of President Trump’s return to office.

Cavazzoni previously worked at Pfizer prior to joining the FDA in 2018.

The announcement spurred renewed criticisms about the common "revolving door” between the FDA and industry. Critics worry the close relationship leads to a quid pro quo and favoritism toward industry.

Robert Califf, who served as FDA commissioner under President Obama, left the agency to advise Google Health and its spinoff, Verily Life Sciences. The move garnered criticism and opposition from some Senate Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) when President Biden nominated him for the same job.

Califf eventually made ethics concessions to Warren to secure her vote, including a pledge not to seek employment or compensation from any drug or medical device companies he interacted with as commissioner for four years after he stepped down.

Scott Gottlieb, FDA commissioner during Trump’s first term, now serves on the board of Pfizer.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long accused the FDA of being corrupt and beholden to industry influence and has pledged to root out supposed conflicts of interest across the agency.

Just ahead of the election, while Trump was considering him for HHS secretary, Kennedy posted on social media that FDA employees who are “part of this corrupt system” should “pack their bags.”

Watchdog group Public Citizen panned Cavazzoni's hiring.

“Cavazonni’s move demonstrates that the revolving door between the FDA and the industries it regulates is alive and well and continues to undermine the FDA’s credibility as a public health agency,” the organization’s health research group director Robert Steinbrook said in a statement.

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