In the race for permanent FDA chief, Sharpless is a top pick. But he's not alone

Whom will the Trump administration nominate for the top FDA job? Acting Commissioner Ned Sharpless is one contender—and he reportedly scored endorsements from five former FDA chiefs, not to mention a laundry list of patient groups. But he’s not the only candidate.

Sharpless is among three frontrunners, the Wall Street Journal reported. Stephen Hahn, MD Anderson Cancer Center’s chief medical executive, and Alexa Boer Kimball, a dermatologist and president and CEO of Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, are top contenders as well.

Sharpless, formerly director of the National Cancer Institute, won the interim job on the recommendation of Scott Gottlieb, who abruptly stepped down in March. And apparently, Gottlieb thinks Sharpless has done a good job so far.

Commending Sharpless as "an outstanding physician and scientist who is committed to public health goals and the mission of FDA," Gottlieb, in a tweet Wednesday, said he hopes to see him "permanently nominated" to the role.

That shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Sharpless basically took up Gottlieb’s mantle. In his first major speech at the FDA in April, Sharpless vowed to "maintain FDA’s current course of action in every area and proceed full speed ahead."

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