Vinay Prasad returns to role as top vaccine regulator at FDA days after leaving US agency

(Reuters) -Vinay Prasad is returning to his role overseeing vaccine, gene therapy and blood product regulation at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration a little more than a week after he left the agency. “At the FDA’s request, Dr. Vinay Prasad is resuming leadership of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research,” U.S. Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in an emailed statement to Reuters. Prasad left the agency on July 30 after just a few months as director of the center. STAT News first reported the return of Prasad. Prasad, an oncologist who was a fierce critic of U.S. COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates, was named the center’s director by FDA Commissioner Marty Makary in May. Criticism of Prasad’s tenure intensified around the agency’s handling o