U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary announced that Bret Koplow will be acting director of the Center for Tobacco Products, according to emailed announcements reported by Bloomberg.
Koplow has worked for the agency in various roles since 2011, serving as senior counselor to the commissioner in the Immediate Office of the Commissioner since early 2020, where he focused principally on regulatory, policy, and operational matters involving CTP, including work on e-cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products. Before joining the Commissioner’s Immediate Office, he served as senior counsel in the FDA’s Office of the Chief Counsel, and before that served in the FDA’s Office of Legislation as the Senior Advisor for Oversight.
The agency is facing pressure to crack down on illicit products, improve new product submission procedures, and change how it approaches foreign inspections.
“Bret Koplow—an attorney and longtime FDA bureaucrat,” Gregory Conley, a harm-reduction advocate posted on X. “This would seem to signal the Biden era status quo will continue for now.”
Makary also announced Elizabeth Miller will serve as the acting associate commissioner for the Office of Inspections and Investigations, filling two high-profile vacancies. The former top tobacco regulator, Brian King, was pushed out during agency-wide layoffs in April.
