U.S. FDA commissioner Marty Makary has tapped former biotech executive George Tidmarsh to lead the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER).
Tidmarsh will head one of the FDA’s largest divisions. CDER regulates medical products throughout their life cycle — overseeing the development of new and generic drugs, evaluating applications to determine whether drugs should be approved and monitoring the safety of drugs after they are marketed.
Tidmarsh earned his MD and Ph.D. in cancer biology from Stanford University where he completed residency training in pediatrics. He has led the successful clinical development of seven FDA-approved drugs and served as founder and/or CEO of multiple biopharma companies including La Jolla Pharmaceutical, Horizon Pharma and Metronome Therapeutics.
Former head of CDER Patrizia Cavazzoni revealed her departure — announced as a retirement — back in January, ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration. A month later, she rejoined Pfizer as chief medical officer, executive vice president. Cavazzoni had been picked to head CDER in 2021, replacing longtime leader Janet Woodcock.