Trump's controversial vaccine chief ousted

The Trump administration’s head of vaccines will leave the U.S. Food and Drug Administration next month following a tenure marked by several high-profile controversies.

Dr. Vinay Prasad, who leads the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, will depart at the end of April, the Wall Street Journal first reported Friday.

Prasad, who joined the agency in May, oversaw several vaccine-related decisions that drew scrutiny, including his refusal last month to review a new influenza vaccine using messenger RNA technology developed by Moderna. The FDA later agreed to consider the application after adjustments were made, according to CNN.

The agency also faced criticism over requests for additional trial data from UniQure, which is developing a gene therapy for Huntington's disease.

“We will name a successor before his departure,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said Friday in a social media post. “I want to thank him for his service and personal sacrifice to take time away from his family.”

Prasad’s time at the agency also drew political attention over a number of high-profile decisions. Some allies of President Donald Trump criticized him, including MAGA firebrand Laura Loomer, who accused him of political bias, CNN reported.

Before joining the FDA, Prasad was a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and a frequent critic of the federal government’s Covid-19 response.