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# Major Staff Losses at CDER and CBER Amid Shake-up
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/major-staff-losses-at-cder-and-cber-amid-shake-up/
- Published: 2025-10-21T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T15:24:41.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5160072

FDA has posted hiring data showing steep declines in staffing at its two key centers, CDER and CBER, responsible for drug and biologics regulation. The figures come amid a sweeping reorganization earlier this year at HHS and mounting concerns that the agency may be losing capacity to keep up with its regulatory responsibilities.

In its latest quarterly net-hiring tables (as of 9/30), FDA reports that the number of employees onboard at CDER dropped from 6,044 at the beginning of fiscal year 2025 to 4,951 by the end of the fourth quarter — a net loss of 1,093\. Notably, the second quarter showed a net loss of 121, third quarter a loss of 246, and the fourth quarter alone a loss of 740\. At CBER, the data show that its workforce shrank from 1,373 to 1,149 over the same period — a net loss of 224 — with its fourth quarter net loss alone showing 190.

The staffing shrinkage comes in the context of a broad reorganization at HHS announced in March, under which FDA was slated to cut around 3,500 employees (about 20% of its workforce) as part of a larger plan to cut 10,000 HHS jobs ([see earlier story](https://www.fdaweb.com/hhs-finalizes-fda-employee-terminations/)). FDA watchers have been warning that staff reductions were beginning to erode the drug-review program. With fewer reviewers and support staff, the pace of evaluating new therapies and biosimilars may slow — one early indicator: the agency’s drug-approval rate recently fell to 73% in the third quarter, down from an 87% average in prior quarters. There has also been a recent unexpected rise in rejected marketing applications to 15% and an 11% rate of delayed reviews, both higher than their historical averages.