FDA has 700+ Vacant Drug Approval Jobs

Nov. 6, 2016

The U.S. FDA, under fire for its drug approval backlog, says it has over 700 job vacanies at its Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER).

At a recent industry event, Janet Woodcock said that the agency is struggling to hire and retain staff because pharmaceutical companies are offering employees much higher salaries.

CDER had 711 openings out of 5,525 positions at the end of September, said an FDA spokewoman.

Aside from salary, the speed in which the agency goes through the hiring process is a challenge. “A young person with a family can’t wait four months for us to get through some of the federal hiring process. So if they have something else that’s more . . . expedient, they will take that,”  said Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

Read the Kaiser Health News article