FDA picks acting director for Office of Generic Drugs

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has picked Kathleen Uhl to serve as acting director of the Office of Generic Drugs, the agency said Tuesday.

In a memo sent out to staff of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the section of the agency that oversees the OGD, CDER director Janet Woodcock wrote that Uhl most recently served as senior adviser to director Greg Geba, who announced his resignation Thursday.

"Dr. Uhl brings a wealth of regulatory and medical policy, scientific, and management experience to the position," Woodcock wrote. "In her fifteen years with [the] FDA, Dr. Uhl has become widely-regarded both inside and outside of the agency as a compassionate, committed, and dedicated leader. Because of her strong management skills and extensive expertise in clinical pharmacology, I am confident in her abilities to lead OGD during a time of transition as we work to evolve quality throughout the Center and implement the Generic Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012."

The agency has started a nationwide search to find a new director to replace Geba, Woodcock wrote.