Sen­ate Fi­nance chair asks Rob Califf for more de­tails around po­ten­tial ac­cel­er­at­ed ap­proval re­forms

How is the FDA go­ing to re­form its ac­cel­er­at­ed ap­proval path­way once Rob Califf takes over as FDA com­mis­sion­er? That’s what Sen­ate Fi­nance com­mit­tee chair Ron Wyden wants to know, and he wants a “prompt re­sponse,” ac­cord­ing to a let­ter Wyden sent to Califf on Fri­day.

Califf is bat­tling to stay alive as Pres­i­dent Joe Biden’s FDA nom­i­nee, as 5 De­moc­rats have vowed to vote against him, and Re­pub­li­cans might not come out to de­fend Califf ei­ther giv­en some re­cent moves by the FDA around abor­tions. But both health com­mit­tee rank­ing mem­ber Richard Burr of North Car­oli­na, who’s been ush­er­ing Califf through this process, and De­mo­c­rat Chris Mur­phy have told me­dia out­lets in re­cent days that they think Califf will muster the votes.

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