Feb 26 (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to give quarterly bonuses to scientific staff for completing drug reviews more quickly, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing an FDA official familiar with the matter.
The staff reviewers would be eligible for bonuses worth several thousand dollars per quarter for high-quality work completed ahead of schedule, the report said, adding that the program is expected to be announced at an internal FDA meeting later today.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The agency is also working to hire more than 1,000 new scientists as part of a broader effort to accelerate drug evaluations, Bloomberg said.
The bonus initiative is scheduled to begin on April 1 and will apply to reviewers in the FDA’s two main centers that evaluate drugs and vaccines, with first payments expected around August, according to the report.
(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
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