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• Posted November 13, 2025

Dr. Richard Pazdur Appointed to Lead FDA’s Drug Division After Turbulent Year

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has appointed one of its most respected cancer drug regulators to lead the agency’s main division for approving new drugs.

The appointment of Dr. Richard Pazdur comes after a turbulent year with hundreds of staff departures within the agency.

Pazdur, who has been with FDA for 26 years, is known for helping speed the approval of lifesaving cancer drugs.

His new role places him at the helm of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), which oversees most prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

“I’m honored to lead CDER at a time when the FDA is achieving long-sought regulatory reforms,” Pazdur said. 

He said he looked forward to helping “our country reach its peak in drug development.”

The CDER has about 5,000 employees, down about 1,000 this year due to dismissals, buyouts and resignations.

Pazdur’s predecessor, Dr. George Tidmarsh, resigned recently after being placed on leave during an inspector general investigation. Tidmarsh, a former biotech executive, criticized the FDA’s fast-track approval system and faced a lawsuit from a pharmaceutical company over alleged conflicts; claims he denied.

Pazdur’s appointment was widely seen as a stabilizing choice. He became a champion for faster drug access after his wife, Mary, died of cancer in 2015, The New York Times reported.

He supported the use of “surrogate endpoints” — measures like tumor shrinkage — to speed the approval of promising treatments rather than waiting years to prove longer survival. 

That approach has since extended beyond cancer to include rare and neurological diseases.

But Pazdur has also urged drugmakers to withdraw medications that failed to show real benefit after fast-tracked approval.

He has also pressed companies that test cancer drugs in China to repeat trials with U.S. patients.

More information

Learn more about the role of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

SOURCE: The New York Times, Nov. 11, 2025