FDA’s Strategic Plan Emphasizes Science

In the wake of getting new responsibilities for food and drug safety, FDA has issued a “strategic priorities document” to guide the agency’s actions through 2015. “It is clear that FDA’s job is … far more complex than it was even a few years ago,” said FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg in a statement. “Science underlies everything we do. … We must have the capacity to effectively oversee the translation of breakthrough discoveries in science into innovative, safe, and effective products.” FDA lists five priorities in its plan: advance regulatory science and innovation, strengthen the safety and integrity of the global supply chain, strengthen compliance and enforcement activities to support public health, address unmet public health needs of special populations, and advance medical countermeasures and emergency preparedness.