FDA names Woodcock director of CDER

WASHINGTON Food and Drug Administration commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach has named Janet Woodcock as director of the agency’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

In October 2007, while serving as the agency’s deputy commissioner and chief medical officer, where she oversaw scientific and regulatory operations, Woodcock agreed to assume the role of acting director of CDER.

Throughout her career at the FDA, Woodcock has played an integral role in advancing the health of the American public. Under her guidance, the FDA launched the Critical Path Initiative designed to close the gap between basic scientific research and the medical product development process. This initiative called for a collaborative effort to modernize the drug development process and has resulted in several prominent partnerships looking at a wide variety of scientific issues.

“Dr. Woodcock’s exemplary service since October was confirmation of her being ideally suited to lead the center during this crucial period following the passage of the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007,” noted von Eschenbach. “The agency is fully committed to implementing the drug safety programs laid out by this act and meeting the goals set under the prescription drug user fee program, which will help ensure that CDER has the additional resources that are needed to conduct these very complex and comprehensive reviews.”