U.S. Food and Drug Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is resigning, The
Washington Post reported Tuesday afternoon.
Gottlieb, a physician, former banker and venture capitalist, had made youth vaping his focal issue on the FDA.
A former advisor to pharmaceutical companies, Gottlieb was initially criticized for being too close to the industry, which the
agency regulates, but surprised some doubters with his criticism of the industry related to the opioid crisis and with his efforts
to reduce youth vaping.
The Post
reported Gottlieb’s resignation will be effective in about a month, citing an unnamed administration official. The official
said Gottlieb, 46, who has been commuting to Washington from Connecticut, wanted to spend more time with his wife and three
daughters.
Market Reacts
Shares of several companies regulated by the FDA, including cigarette makers Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO), British American Tobacco PLC (NYSE: BTI) and Philip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE:
PM) traded higher after the report.
Meanwhile, the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (NASDAQ: IBB) and SPDR S&P Biotech (NYSE: XBI) funds fell sharply.
Pharma Ties
Gottlieb, who took office in May of 2017, had financial ties to GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX), while also doing work for biotech companies before taking the spot on the
commission.
Gottlieb’s primary work on the FDA has been an initiative aimed at curtailing vaping, and the future of that effort may be up in
the air without Gottlieb to champion it.
The Post also cited a resignation letter in which Gottlieb listed accomplishments, including “accelerating the approval of
generic drugs and modernizing the process for handling novel gene and precision therapies to treat those with cancer and other
dread diseases.”
He also cited his work to help deal with drug and medical device shortages in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.
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