Only a few days after reports emerged that the director of the FDA's cell and gene therapy office had been abruptly put on administrative leave, a new departure shows that an intense period of leadership turnover at the agency isn't over.
Monday, Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay, M.D., the acting director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), wrote in an email to colleagues that she'd be retiring from the agency in July, according to reports in Bloomberg, Endpoints News and Stat.
Corrigan-Curay has been with the FDA for more than eight years and assumed the acting CDER director role earlier this year after the center's former director, Patrizia Cavazzoni, M.D., stepped aside just before the start of President Donald Trump's second term.
“This decision has been incredibly challenging, as I deeply value our collective achievements and recognize that no other place offers the same opportunities to advance public health alongside such smart, talented, and supportive colleagues,” Corrigan-Curay wrote to colleagues, according to Bloomberg.
To help ensure a smooth transition, Corrigan-Curay informed colleagues she'd be around for a few more weeks, according to the reports.
Her planned departure comes amid a period of heavy turnover at the U.S. drug regulator. Just last week, reports emerged that Nicole Verdun, M.D., director of the FDA’s cell and gene therapy office, and her deputy Rachael Anatol, Ph.D., were relieved of their duties.
The news spurred the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine to state that it was "deeply disappointed" in the decision. In recent months, Verdun had been seen among many in the biopharma industry as a key voice for agency continuity after the forced exit of Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., the former director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), back in March.
To many, Marks was viewed as an ally of the industry in the field of advanced therapies, so his exit created uncertainties for cell and gene therapy developers at a time when the field faces a series of big picture questions.
In the wake of Marks' exit, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, M.D., named Vinay Prasad, M.D., to head up the CBER. In addition to that title, Prasad recently added the title of "chief medical and science officer" to his resume.
Besides Corrigan-Curay, Verdun, Anatol, Cavazzoni and Marks, other departures at the agency in recent months include the FDA's former chief medical officer Hilary Marston, M.D. and former CBER Deputy Director Celia Witten, M.D., Ph.D.
Aside from leadership exits at the agency, thousands of FDA staffers were shown the door amid the Trump administration's government overhaul earlier this year.