CDRH Director Bruce Burlington to Leave FDA

Bruce Burlington, director of FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) will be leaving the agency in mid-March to head regulatory affairs at Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals in Philadelphia.

Burlington joined FDA in 1981. Since 1993, he has been director of CDRH. From 1988 to 1993, he was deputy director of the Office of Drug Evaluation II in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), with responsibility for scientific and managerial supervision of anti-infective, antiviral, metabolic and endocrine products. From 1989 to 1990, he also served as acting director of the Office of Generic Drugs. From 1990 to 1993, he held the post of deputy director for medical affairs of CDER as a collateral duty.

From 1986 to 1988, Burlington was in charge of the division of biological investigative new drugs in the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. And, from 1981 to 1986, he was a research fellow and, then, chief of the respiratory virus laboratory in FDA's biologics unit.

FDA commissioner Jane Henney made the announcement. "The agency has been truly fortunate to have Bruce on its team for more than 18 years. His dedication to the agency and protecting the public health is unmatched," she said. "Under his leadership, the agency's device program has been reinvented to more effectively and efficiently serve our stakeholders. The center has not only eliminated its product review backlog, but also cut review times in half, allowing more people to receive the benefits of needed medical products."

No replacement has been announced.