FDA shelves commissioner's priority voucher program, sources say

The US Food and Drug Administration has shelved its Commissioner's National Priority Voucher program, which promised drug reviews in one to two months, with no new vouchers awarded since Commissioner Marty Makary left in May, Reuters reported, citing six sources and internal documents.

Why it matters: The program was the administration's flagship route for fast approvals tied to national priorities and to drug pricing deals with the White House; its quiet shelving leaves nine voucher drugs back under career scientists and removes a lever companies had counted on.

Data as of Reuters report of November 12, 2026, read in full via the estate browser route in its Investing.com carrying, based on six sources familiar with the matter and internal FDA documents. Single-outlet reporting, and the Department of Health and Human Services says the pilot is ongoing, so graded C. Developing item.

The Food and Drug Administration has shelved the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher program, launched in June 2025 to cut review times for priority drugs to one to two months, according to six sources familiar with the matter and internal documents seen by Reuters. The program awarded vouchers to 22 drugs, 12 of which have been approved, but none has been awarded since Commissioner Marty Makary, who created it, left the agency in May, and the executive council of political appointees that oversaw the reviews has gone dormant; career scientists have resumed overseeing the nine drugs still in the program.

The Department of Health and Human Services disputed the account: a spokesperson said the pilot is ongoing and that the FDA is reviewing feedback from a June public hearing to refine it. Critics had attacked the program for handpicking drugs and for awards to companies, including Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Merck KGaA, that had reached drug pricing deals with the White House, and a former HHS official told Reuters the initiative is quietly being phased out after its top administrator departed.

FDA shelves commissioner's priority voucher program, sources say

Sources