Capricor advisory committee meeting canceled by Vinay Prasad, STAT reports

The ouster of the Food and Drug Administration’s chief regulator of cell and gene therapies, Nicole Verdun, earlier this week came immediately after a disagreement with her boss over the review of a cell therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, according to STAT’s Adam Feuerstein, Matthew Herper, Jason Mast, and Lizzy Lawrence. Verdun had scheduled an advisory committee meeting to review the therapy developed by Capricor Therapeutics (CAPR), but the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Vinay Prasad, was skeptical of the treatment and decided unilaterally to cancel the meeting, a person familiar with the matter told STAT. In afternoon trading, Capricor shares have fallen $4.72, or 40%, to $7.22.