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Makary to appear before Senate HELP Committee on Thursday

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Agency is expected to cut costs

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Colleague says Makary "understands the importance of

vaccines"

By Michael Erman

NEW YORK, March 6 (Reuters) - Martin Makary, President

Donald Trump's nominee to run the U.S. FDA, will be tasked with

maintaining the agency's gold standard status among

international drug regulators while contending with cost cuts,

and answering to a vaccine skeptic for a boss in Health

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

He is set to take over an agency already embroiled in

controversy after the mass firing of federal employees and the

cancellation of a meeting of Food and Drug Administration

advisers meant to discuss the seasonal flu vaccine shortly after

Kennedy was confirmed.

Makary will appear in front of the Senate Health, Education,

Labor and Pensions Committee for his confirmation hearing on

Thursday. He will likely face questions from Democrats on

mifepristone - a drug used for medical abortion that has faced

efforts to make it unavailable or illegal in

Republican-controlled states - and his position on vaccines.

Makary, a physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore,

has spoken out against over treatment in the U.S., calling it

"an epidemic of inappropriate care."

He also raised concerns about a number of public health

efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, touting the protection

received from natural immunity and opposing vaccine mandates for

the general public -- stances that put him at odds with many

public health experts.

Makary will be working for Kennedy, who has expressed goals

of ending chronic disease as well as breaking ties between FDA

employees and the pharmaceutical industry.

Kennedy has sown doubts in the past about the safety and

efficacy of vaccines that have helped curb disease and prevent

deaths for decades, but disputes the anti-vaccine label.

Although Makary has staked out contrarian positions on other

topics in the past, those familiar with his work say he believes

in the benefit of vaccination.

"He's a very bright guy, and he's accomplished a lot in the

medical world," said Dr. Cody Meissner, chief of pediatric

infectious diseases at Tufts Children's Hospital, who has

corresponded with Makary and co-wrote an editorial with him

against masks for children during the COVID pandemic.

"He understands the importance of vaccines, and I would in

no way consider him to be an anti-vaxxer," Meissner said.

Democratic U.S. Senators Patty Murray, Tammy Baldwin and

Angela Alsobrooks wrote a letter to Makary last week about the

cancellation of a meeting of the independent panel that advises

the FDA on vaccine policy. The committee had been set this month

to discuss the composition of the influenza virus vaccines for

the 2025-2026 flu season.

"We expect you to answer questions about whether you will

adopt a position of responsible public health leadership or

continue the Trump administration's current, troubling

trajectory into vaccine skepticism," they wrote.

Makary may also face pressure to further reduce head count

at the FDA after hundreds of jobs were already cut last month

as part of the effort to slash the size of the federal

government by Elon Musk and his Department of Government

Efficiency. Many of those cuts were quickly rescinded and the

agency is now offering early retirement.

Industry veteran Jeremy Levin, chief executive of

biotechnology company Ovid Therapeutics ( OVID ), said Makary

may have to stand up for the agency in the face of those DOGE

efforts.

"A lot of people who are looking to simply cut costs have

raised the specter - but not the fact - that they will do

wholesale cutting at the FDA. In the event that they propose

that," Levin said, "I'm hopeful that Marty will be in a position

to push back."