FDA Commissioner nomination looms

The nomination by US President George W Bush of Food and Drug Administration Acting Commissioner, Andrew von Eschenbach (reported by the Marketletter on March 9) to the position on a permanent basis was welcomed by the American Association for Cancer Research. Margaret Foti, AACR chief executive, said: "Dr von Eschenbach brings enormous medical and administrative expertise and experience to this post." She added that "this background will be vitally important in his new challenging role of FDA Commissioner."

Dr von Eschenbach has been combining the responsibilities of Acting Commissioner at the agency since September 2005, with the directorship of the USA-based National Cancer Institute, a position he has held since 2002. The close ties between the NCI and the FDA which he has fostered have been geared towards speeding up the transmission of laboratory research to patient use, especially for cancers.

Dr von Eschenbach himself has survived three cancer threats: melanoma, prostate cancer and basal cell carcinoma.