FDA names oncologist Vinay Prasad as top vaccine official

The US Food and Drug Administration has named Vinay Prasad, an oncologist who has previously criticized COVID-19 restrictions, as the director of its Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, an internal email seen by Reuters said on Tuesday.

The US FDA’s commissioner, Marty Makary, made the announcement in an email to staff.

Prasad comes to the FDA from the University of California at San Francisco.

The Food and Drug Administration has named Vinay Prasad as the director of its Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

In March, Peter Marks, the FDA’s former head of the division, which regulates vaccines and biologics, was pushed out of the agency.

Scott Steele, an FDA insider for the past five years, had been serving as acting head of the division after Marks’ exit.