Week of March 10 Regulatory Intelligence Recap

Trade Press and Regulatory Summary:

• FDA commissioner nominee Makary advances to full Senate vote - MSN

  • The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee Thursday morning advanced the nomination of Marty Makary for FDA commissioner for a full Senate vote. The vote was 14-9. The committee also voted in favor of advancing the nomination of Jayanta Bhattacharya to head the NIH. That tally was 12-11.

• White House pulls CDC nominee because they didn’t have the votes: Sources - ABC News

  • The White House on Thursday pulled President Donald Trump's nomination of Dr. David Weldon to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, multiple sources told ABC News. Weldon was pulled because he didn't have the votes to be confirmed, according to Weldon and two sources familiar with his nomination. This was the first time a CDC director nominee had to be Senate-confirmed, after Congress passed a law requiring it in 2022.

• HHS Secretary Kennedy Directs FDA to Explore Rulemaking to Eliminate Pathway for Companies to Self-Affirm Food Ingredients Are Safe - HHS Website

  • “For far too long, ingredient manufacturers and sponsors have exploited a loophole that has allowed new ingredients and chemicals, often with unknown safety data, to be introduced into the U.S. food supply without notification to the FDA or the public,” said Secretary Kennedy. “Eliminating this loophole will provide transparency to consumers, help get our nation’s food supply back on track by ensuring that ingredients being introduced into foods are safe, and ultimately Make America Healthy Again.”

• FDA CTP updates MDO List - FDA CTP Website

  • Marketing Denial Order List updated on March 11 to include 6 manufacturers. 351 individual manufacturers have been issued MDOs since 2021.

• Illegal Vape Seizures Jumped 21,000% Last Year in Massachusetts: Report - CSP News

  • The state of Massachusetts saw a 21,000% jump in illegal vape seizures last year, according to a new report, from the Massachusetts Multi-Agency Illegal Tobacco Task Force.

    The report said that state police vape seizures increased from 1,326 units to 279,432 illegal products in 2024.

• FDA Educational Efforts Prevented Nearly 450,000 Youth from Starting E-Cigarette Use in One Year - FDA News Release

  • A study co-authored by U.S. Food and Drug Administration scientists was released showing the agency’s youth e-cigarette prevention campaign, “The Real Cost,” successfully reduced e-cigarette use among youth. The campaign, which launched in 2018 under the leadership of President Trump, was found to have prevented an estimated 444,252 American youth (age 11 to 17 at study recruitment) from starting to use e-cigarettes between 2023 and 2024.