There will be no seasteaders at the FDA

At least for now. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb will be replaced, on an acting basis, by the current head of the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Ned Sharpless.

That paves the way for a peaceful transition of power at the FDA, and a future in which some of the strident libertarians once considered for the top job — including one who advocated for lawless ocean colonization — will find no quarter in the agency.

Biopharma stocks ticked upward on the news yesterday as it suggests that the Gottlieb-era FDA, resoundingly liked by the drug industry, is unlikely to change course in the short term. But Sharpless is, after all, only the acting director. Whether he ends up getting nominated for a permanent gig is up to a Trump White House that has been known, from time to time, to buck the conventional wisdom.

Read more.