During his first term, Trump signed the “Right to Try” law, which allows terminally ill patients to seek treatments that haven't been fully approved by the FDA, The AP said. His team also recently rejected three applications for new gene therapies from smaller biotech companies.

Dr. Vinay Prasad had been serving as the FDA's director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research since May, and was later named chief medical and scientific officer.

The Food and Drug Administration’s polarizing vaccine chief is leaving the agency after a brief tenure that drew the ire of biotech executives, patient groups and conservative allies of President Donald Trump.