FDA oncology chief Richard Pazdur files retirement papers rather than endorse single-trial policy

Dr. Richard Pazdur, who led FDA's Oncology Center of Excellence for 25 years and oversaw more cancer drug approvals than any official in FDA history, filed retirement paperwork in December 2025 after briefly serving as acting director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). According to STAT News reporting, Pazdur was handed a pre-written press release endorsing the single-trial drug approval policy and refused to sign it. He filed for retirement rather than lend his scientific credibility to a policy he believed would harm cancer patients. Pazdur's departure removed the agency's most prominent internal check on the political appointees driving the policy change.