Andrew C. von Eschenbach (born October 30, 1941) was the

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

from 2006 to 2009. He became acting Commissioner on September 26, 2005, after the resignation of his predecessor Lester Crawford, and was confirmed as Commissioner by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

on December 7, 2006.Senate Vote No. 274
/ref> He was previously the 12th director of the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

. Von Eschenbach currently serves on the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

BioTime Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel cell therapies for unmet medical needs. Lineage’s programs are based on its robust proprietary cell-based therapy platform and associated in-house deve ...

, a

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

company helmed by CEO Michael D. West. He also serves as a director of Viamet Pharmaceuticals.

Biography

After graduating from

St. Joseph's Preparatory School St. Joseph's Preparatory School, known as "St. Joe's Prep" or simply "The Prep", is an urban, private, Catholic, college preparatory school run by the Society of Jesus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The school was founded in 1851 ...

, von Eschenbach received his bachelor of science in biology from St. Joseph's University in 1963 and his MD from

Georgetown University School of Medicine Georgetown University School of Medicine, a medical school opened in 1851, is one of Georgetown University's five graduate schools, and is the most applied-to medical school in the nation with a matriculation rate of 1.40%. It is located on Res ...

in 1967. He did residencies at

Pennsylvania Hospital Pennsylvania Hospital is a Private hospital, private, non-profit, 515-bed teaching hospital located at 800 Spruce Street (Philadelphia), Spruce Street in Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia, The hospital was founded on May 11, 17 ...

in general surgery and

urology Urology (from Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:οὖρον, οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of t ...

and taught urology at the

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine The Perelman School of Medicine (commonly known as Penn Med) is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, a Private university, private, Ivy League research university located in Philadelphia. Founded in 1765, the Perelman School of M ...

. He served in the US Navy Medical Corps with the rank of lieutenant commander from 1968 to 1971. In 1976, von Eschenbach began his long association with The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, beginning as a urologic oncology fellow, and becoming chair of the department of urology in 1983. He was founding director of the

Prostate Cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

Research Program in 1996, director of the

Genitourinary The genitourinary system, or urogenital system, are the sex organs of the reproductive system and the organs of the urinary system. These are grouped together because of their proximity to each other, their common embryological origin and the us ...

Cancer Center, and held the Roy M. and Phyllis Gough Huffington Clinical Research Distinguished Chair in Urologic Oncology. Driven by his father's

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

, he specialized in the disease. Von Eschenbach was president-elect of the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...

when he was selected by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

to head the NCI in December 2001. As director of the NCI he announced in 2003 that his organization's goal was to "eliminate suffering and death" caused by cancer by the year 2015. However, under von Eschenbach's leadership the FDA has been criticized for being too risk averse when considering life saving treatments for desperate, dying patients. For example, in 2007 the FDA failed to approve

Provenge Sipuleucel-T, sold under the brand name Provenge, developed by Dendreon Pharmaceuticals, LLC, is a cell-based cancer immunotherapy for prostate cancer (CaP). It is an autologous cellular immunotherapy. Medical uses Sipuleucel-T is indicated f ...

for the treatment of late stage prostate cancer against the recommendation of an independent advisory committee. Von Eschenbach was criticized for overruling his staff recommendations, and approving the Menaflex knee implant, made by ReGen Biologics Inc., New Jersey, on a fast-track basis, after four New Jersey congressmen lobbied on ReGen's behalf. Von Eschenbach said, "We fumbled that process." In 2006, ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' named him as one of the Time 100 "People Who Shape Our World", writing that as head of the FDA, which "wields enormous influence on American lives", von Eschenbach "could make a signal contribution to the public's health" by focusing on issues of diet and obesity in addition to drugs and disease. On August 1, 2006, Senators Clinton and Cantwell announced they would block his nomination to be the permanent FDA commissioner because of his department's failure to act on the application by

Barr Pharmaceuticals Barr Pharmaceuticals was an American specialty and generic drug manufacturer with operations in 30 countries. Approximately 75% of the company's revenues came from the sale of generic drugs, including 18% of sales which were from the sale of oral ...

to sell Plan B

over-the-counter Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are medicines sold directly to a consumer without a requirement for a prescription from a healthcare professional, as opposed to prescription drugs, which may be supplied only to consumers possessing a valid pres ...

. They ultimately voted for his nomination. Eschenbach left the FDA in 2009 to join Greenleaf Health, which counsels pharmaceutical clients, before starting his own consulting company, Samaritan Health Initiatives.Nonprofit Working To Block Drug Imports Has Ties To Pharma Lobby
by Emily Kopp & Rachel Bluth for NPR and Kaiser Health News, April 18, 2017 Andrew von Eschenbach was instrumental in the development and growth of the Prostate Cancer Foundation (founded by

Michael Milken Michael Robert Milken (born July 4, 1946) is an American financier. He is known for his role in the development of the market for High-yield debt, high-yield bonds ("junk bonds"), and his conviction and sentence following a guilty plea on felony ...

) since its inception in 1993 and held a board membership position and scientific advisor role at the foundation. C-Change, a forum that brings together the principal leaders of key national cancer organizations, and founded by Andrew von Eschenbach, is in partnership with the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

References

* "Andrew von Eschenbach." Biography Resource Center Online. Gale, 2006.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eschenbach, Andrew Von 1941 births Living people St. Joseph's Preparatory School alumni Saint Joseph's University alumni Commissioners of the Food and Drug Administration Georgetown University School of Medicine alumni Physicians from Philadelphia United States Navy Medical Corps officers George W. Bush administration personnel