By Ed Miseta, chief editor, Outsourced Pharma and Clinical Leader: FDA's Hamburg: Focus Remains On Innovation, Partnerships, And Quality

Margaret Hamburg is now four and a half years into her tenure as commissioner of the FDA. That makes her the second longest serving individual in that position. Four and a half years might not seem like a long time, but some agency changes under her rule are noteworthy. For one, the budget of the agency, during that timeframe, has grown from $2.7 billion to $4.2 billion. She casually shrugs off the achievement, joking that it takes a long time to learn how to do the job.

Hamburg’s comments came at the 2013 FDA/CMS Summit held in Washington D.C. in December. Her keynote presentation, which ran just under 30 minutes, was noteworthy in that it gave insight into what she sees as the most significant accomplishments of the department, and where the focus will be going forward. Quality and innovation were themes that came up throughout.

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