Eye on FDA

On October 16, 2025, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unveiled the first group of nine voucher recipients under the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher (CNPV) pilot program, a program announced by the agency earlier this year that provides a path for accelerated drug review for companies supporting national interests as determined by the Commissioner. The identified areas of priority by the agency include meeting large unmet medical needs, bolstering domestic manufacturing and increasing the affordability of medicines for American patients. As previously noted, the new program, which is not defined in statute or regulations, aims to significantly speed up FDA’s standard 10-12 month review timeline to just 1-2 months after filing an application for a drug or biologic. The agency has touted the  benefit of recipients of the vouchers receiving enhanced access with FDA review staff and a “team-based review” model.

Dr. George Tidmarsh has been selected to replace Dr. Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay as the director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) at FDA as she prepares to retire from the agency. Dr. Tidmarsh is an adjunct professor of pediatrics and neonatology at Stanford University and is credited as having been involved in the development of several approved drugs. Until late May of this year, Dr. Tidmarsh was a member of the board of directors of Revelation Biosciences, a company engaged in developing an anti-inflammatory IV therapy. Among other roles and experiences he has had, he was a founding Co-Director of Stanford’s Master of Science in Translational Research and Applied Medicine (M-TRAM) program, and founded Horizon Pharma in 2005.

On January 15, 2025, FDA announced an order revoking the listings providing for the use of the color additive FD&C Red No. 3 in both foods (including dietary supplements) and ingested drugs. The order is in response to a 2022 petition filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, among other food safety and health advocates, which asserted that the additive induces cancer in male rats and urged the agency to revoke authorization. 

On January 6 and 7, 2025, the FDA announced, by our count, 31 draft or final guidances, on a wide range of topics. Historically, an incoming administration will impose a temporary freeze on the issuance of guidances and rules, and might ultimately have different policy priorities and goals than the previous administration. Thus, the release of these numerous new guidances reflects topics that the FDA likely views as particularly important to address.