New Republican "hold" on FDA Commissioner
US Senator Charles Grassley (Republican, Iowa), the outgoing Chairman of the Senate's Finance Committee (Marketletters passim) has joined two of his party colleagues in issuing a "hold" on the permanent nomination of the Acting Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Andrew von Eschenbach.
Previous holds by Democrat Senator Hillary Clinton (New York) and Patty Murray (Washington) were lifted after the FDA belatedly approved Barr Pharmaceuticals' Plan B (levonorgestrel) emergency contraception for women aged 18 and above.
Sen Grassley's decision was reported by the Bloomberg news service as being because Dr von Eschenbach "failed to comply with subpoenas issued by the [Senate Finance] Committee." However, an alternative explanation being given is that the approval of Ketek (telithromycin), an antibiotic manufactured by French drug major Sanofi-Aventis, was being questioned, due to the fact that Dr von Eschenbach took over at the FDA in September 2005, after the drug was approved.
This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.
Login to your accountTry before you buy
Free
7 day trial access
- All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
- Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
- Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.
Become a subscriber
£820
Or £77 per month
- Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
- Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
- Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
- Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
- Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription
The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed
Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK
Today's issue
Company Spotlight
Copyright © The Pharma Letter 2025 | Headless Content Management with Blaze