FDA’s New Drug Division Chief Dr. Richard Pazdur Files For Retirement

Dr. Richard Pazdur, longtime Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oncology Chief, has filed to retire from the agency weeks after being named Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research on November 11, 2025.

Dr. Pazdur joined the FDA in 1999 as director of CDER’s Division of Oncology Drug Products and has since led the consolidation and reorganisation of cancer drug review divisions. OCE, established in 2017, works to coordinate regulatory review of oncology products, a process he has directed from its inception. Before the FDA, he was a professor of medicine at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and served on the faculty of Wayne State University. He holds a bachelor’s from Northwestern University, an M.D. from Loyola Stritch School of Medicine, and has published over 800 articles, chapters, and textbooks. He has received numerous professional and leadership awards.