Vinay Prasad, a critic of broadly administering coronavirus shots who became the Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine and gene therapy regulator in May, was ousted Tuesday,(July 29) according to two people familiar with the situation.
Prasad had recently come under fire from some Republicans and conservative activists, including far-right activist Laura Loomer, over his approach to drug approvals and his previous support for Democratic politicians.
The FDA division that Prasad led, which oversees biological medical products, had also been grappling with the deaths of patients who received a drug made by Sarepta Therapeutics to treat the rare genetic disease Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
The people who said Prasad was ousted spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive personnel matter. The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed late Tuesday that Prasad left the job but did not explain why.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Dr. Prasad did not want to be a distraction to the great work of the FDA in the Trump administration and has decided to return to California and spend more time with his family,” Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesman, said in a statement. “We thank him for his service and the many important reforms he was able to achieve in his time at FDA.”
Prasad, previously a University of California at San Francisco professor and epidemiologist, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Loomer, who had successfully pushed for the ouster of national security officials in the Trump administration, recently targeted Prasad, describing him on her website as “The Progressive Leftist Saboteur Undermining President Trump’s FDA.” In another post, Loomer accused Prasad of being “anti-Trump.”
In a post on X last week, former Republican senator Rick Santorum claimed Prasad was “destroying @POTUS legacy for helping patients.”
Prasad had received blowback for decisions the FDA made under his tenure on drugs for rare diseases, particularly pressure to pause shipments of Sarepta’s gene therapy for Duchenne after three potential deaths linked to the product. On Monday, the agency lifted the hold for patients with the disease who are still able to walk.
Prasad has long critiqued the regulatory process for approving certain medication, such as cancer drugs. As an oncology researcher, his studies have found that cancer drugs approved on “surrogate endpoints” – early indicators that they are working – may not turn out to extend lives.
On Wednesday morning, Sarepta shares were up more than 10 percent in premarket trading. Wall Street analysts said Prasad’s ouster could boost companies, including Sarepta, that make cell and gene therapies and often seek accelerated approval by using the alternate path Prasad had criticized.
Before joining the Trump administration, Prasad gained prominence as a critic of the public health response to the coronavirus pandemic, including annual vaccination for children and vaccine mandates.
In May, Prasad replaced Peter Marks, who championed the coronavirus shots, as the head of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. forced Marks out in late March.
Prasad was later named both the FDA’s chief medical and scientific officer, handing him a vast portfolio at the massive agency. He often appeared on a new FDA podcast launched by Commissioner Marty Makary, who Prasad had championed as a great choice to lead the agency.
Earlier this year, the two created a new framework for coronavirus vaccines to narrow approval for updated shots to adults 65 and older and people at high risk for severe disease.
Makary recently defended Prasad.
“There’s not a political bone to his body,” Makary told Politico in an interview published this past weekend. “He’s an impeccable scientist, I think one of the greatest scientific minds of our generation.”
(This article appeared on the Washington Post Syndicated Service July 30, 2025)