How Tidmarsh was recruited to run CDER, in his own words

George Tidmarsh’s abrupt departure as director of FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research has raised questions about his recruitment.

Tidmarsh provided an account of the process last week at the BIO Patient Advocacy Changemakers Event in Washington, moderated by BIO President and CEO John Crowley. He described bonding with Jay Bhattacharya at Stanford University over COVID controversies, meeting FDA Commissioner Marty Makary through Bhattacharya, and rapidly going from providing informal advice to Makary to an appointment as CDER director. ...