The appointment of a seasoned pharmaceutical executive, George Tidmarsh, to run the FDA’s drug center underscores the challenge in closing a “revolving door” between the industry and government that Health Secretary Robert F.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration named ex-biotech exec George Tidmarsh as its chief drug regulator. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary called Tidmarsh an "accomplished physician-scientist and leader."

George Tidmarsh, a Stanford University physician who founded Horizon Pharma and later ran La Jolla Pharma, was named head of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.