STAT+: At gene therapy meeting, no one wants to talk about the Vinay Prasad (not) in the room
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NEW ORLEANS \u2014 Last year, hundreds of people poured in to see Peter Marks, the Food and Drug Administration\u2019s head of biologics, speak at the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy conference.\u00a0The regulator was seen by many advocates, researchers, and executives\u00a0as an ally in their efforts to get rare disease treatments approved, sometimes despite limited or contradictory evidence.<\/p>\n
Now, of course, Marks has been forced out<\/a> by the Trump administration. And among the biggest questions facing the gene therapy field is what stance Vinay Prasad<\/a>, the fiery hematologist and regular pharma critic who replaced him, will take toward such rare disease treatments.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s not a question, though, that everyone wants to address. \u201cGosh, I don\u2019t know,\u201d said Barry Byrne, head of the Powell Gene Therapy Center at the University of Florida. \u201cHe\u2019s very outspoken.\u201d<\/p>\n Continue to STAT+ to read the full story\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n