Vinay Prasad to run key FDA division that oversees vaccines

WASHINGTON — Vinay Prasad, an academic and fierce critic of the medical mainstream, will be the next director of the Food and Drug Administration center that oversees the regulation of vaccines, gene therapies, and the blood supply. 

Prasad, previously an epidemiology professor at the University of California, San Francisco, has sharply criticized the FDA in the past, including the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, the unit he will now lead. After reports of his appointment, the S&P Biotech ETF extended losses, tumbling more than 6%.

FDA Commissioner Marty Makary informed staff of the hire in a Tuesday email obtained by STAT, and later announced it in a post on social media site X. Prasad replaces former CBER director Peter Marks, who was forced to resign by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in March.