By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Health Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration’s polarizing vaccine chief is leaving the agency after a brief tenure that drew the ire of biotech executives, patient groups and conservative allies of President Donald Trump.

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Dr. Vinay Prasad “did not want to be a distraction” and was stepping down from his role as the FDA’s top vaccine regulator “to spend more time with his family,” a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement late Tuesday.

Two people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that Prasad was ousted following several recent controversies. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel matters. Prasad did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday morning.

Prasad joined the FDA in May after years as an academic researcher at the University of California San Francisco, where he frequently criticized the FDA’s approach to drug approvals and COVID-19 vaccines.

His contrarian approach appeared to match FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, who repeatedly praised Prasad’s work and intellect.

But in recent weeks Prasad became a target of right-wing activists, including Laura Loomer, who flagged Prasad’s past statements criticizing Trump and praising liberal independent Senator Bernie Sanders.

“How did this Trump-hating Bernie Bro get into the Trump admin???” Loomer posted on X last week.

Trump previously fired several national security officials a day after Loomer raised concerns about their loyalty.

Prasad also attracted scrutiny for his handling of a recent safety issue surrounding the only approved gene therapy for Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy.

Under his direction, shipments of the therapy were briefly halted after a series of patient deaths, then resumed late Monday following vocal pushback from families of boys with the fatal muscle-wasting disorder.

Prasad has long been skeptical of the therapy and other muscular dystrophy drugs sold by the drugmaker, Sarepta Therapeutics. As an academic, Prasad gained prominence by attacking the FDA for being too lenient in its standards for approving cancer drugs and other new therapies.

That approach is at odds with Trump’s Republican supporters, who generally favor speedier approvals and unfettered access to experimental treatments. During Trump’s first term he signed the “ Right to Try ” law, a largely symbolic piece of legislation that won popular support from conservatives seeking to give dying patients expanded access to unproven drugs.

Prasad’s decision to pause Sarepta’s therapy was criticized last week by a columnist and the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal.

Separately, Prasad’s division issued rejection letters this month to three small biotech firms seeking approval for new gene therapies.

Those therapies have been vigorously embraced many of the anti-abortion groups in Trump’s base for their potential to address intractable diseases that sometimes lead parents to terminate pregnancies.

Prasad’s predecessor in the role, Dr. Peter Marks, oversaw a dramatic rise in approvals for new gene therapies, which aim to treat or prevent disease by replacing or modifying a portion of patients’ genetic code.

Prasad has been an outspoken critic of Marks’ leadership at FDA, which included overseeing the approval of the first COVID vaccines and therapies.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By STAN CHOE, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are drifting on Wednesday as Wall Street waits to hear from the Federal Reserve later in the afternoon about what it will do with interest rates.

The S&P 500 was edging up by 0.1% in early trading, coming off its first loss after setting all-time highs for six successive days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 21 points, or less than 0.1%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was adding 0.3%.

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The bond market saw a bit more action, where Treasury yields rose after a report suggested the U.S. economy’s growth was much stronger during the spring than economists expected. It grew at a 3% annual rate, according to an advance estimate, a full percentage point more than forecast. But underlying trends beneath the surface may be more discouraging.

“Cutting through the noise of the swings in imports, the economy is still chugging along, but it is showing signs of sputtering,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.

It reinforces the dilemma facing the Fed as officials prepare to vote on what to do with interest rates. They could lower rates, which would give the boost to the economy. That’s what President Donald Trump has been angrily calling for. But lower rates could also give inflation more fuel when Trump’s tariffs may be set to increase prices for U.S. households on their own.

Trump on Wednesday announced a 25% tariff on imports coming from India, along with an additional tax because of its purchases of Russian oil, beginning on Aug. 1. That’s when stiff tariffs Trump has proposed for many other countries are also scheduled to kick in, unless they reach trade deals that lower the rates.

The widespread expectation on Wall Street is that the Fed will stay on hold with interest rates on Wednesday, as it’s been doing so far this year following its cuts late last year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has been insisting that he wants to see more data about how tariffs are affecting inflation and economy before the central bank makes its next move.

The yield on the two-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 3.91% from 3.86% late Tuesday. It tends to closely follow expectations for what the Fed will do with its overnight interest rate.

The 10-year Treasury, which also takes into account longer-term expectations for the economy and inflation, edged up to 4.36% from 4.34%.

On Wall Street, stocks were mixed as most big U.S. companies continue to report profits for the spring that were bigger than analysts expected.

Humana rose 4.9% after the insurer and health care giant reported stronger results for the spring than expected. It also raised its forecasts for profit and revenue over the full year.

Starbucks reported a weaker profit than analysts expected as it tries to turn around its fortunes. But its stock nevertheless rose 1.6% amid hopes that improved store operations and new products — including a cold foam protein drink — will boost its performance.

Companies are under pressure to deliver solid profit growth. They need to in order to justify the big jumps in their stock prices during recent months, which has caused some critics to say they look too expensive.

On the losing end of Wall Street was Old Dominion Freight Line. The trucking company dropped 6.2% after reporting profit and revenue that came in just short of expectations. CEO Marty Freeman said the results “reflect the ongoing softness in the domestic economy” and that a tough operating environment “has persisted for longer than anticipated.”

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.4%, and South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.7% for two of the bigger moves.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Virgin Voyages is hopping on the pop-culture bandwagon of popular podcasts by presenting its first true crime voyage in partnership with iHeartMedia.

Departing Oct. 10 from Miami on the Valiant Lady, the one-time five-night itinerary sails to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic and Virgin’s Beach Club at Bimini in the Bahamas. The cruise focuses on popular titles including “Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know,” “Betrayal ” and “Buried Bones.”

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During the special voyage, guests can experience live podcast recordings of their favorite shows, attend “how to podcast” workshops, find meet-and-greets with top hosts, participate in giveaways and enjoy themed cocktails and bites.

The adults-only cruise line is packaging this as a “culture-driven sales opportunity” for its travel advisors, known as First Mates. Virgin is billing the experience as one that’s ripe for group bookings and people who are new to cruising.

“We designed the True Crime Voyage to tap into something people are already passionate about,” said Nathan Rosenberg, Virgin Voyages’ chief marketing officer and head of sales. “But we built it to make selling simple, profitable and fun because that’s what First Mates deserve.”

Guests can also book this cruise directly through the Virgin Voyages website, where prices start at $1,702 per cabin, double occupancy. The cruise line’s all-inclusive pricing model covers wifi, tips and gratuities, dining at more than 20 eateries, non-alcoholic beverages, fitness classes and entertainment.

The Valiant Lady is one of four Virgin ships, which share the same yacht-inspired design and a similar capacity of approximately 2,700 passengers each.

Find me @PConnPie on Instagram or send me an email: pconnolly@orlandosentinel.com. Stay up to date with our latest travel, arts and events coverage by subscribing to our newsletters at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.

By MARCIA DUNN, Associated Press Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA and India paired up to launch an Earth-mapping satellite on Wednesday capable of tracking even the slightest shifts in land and ice.

The $1.3 billion mission will help forecasters and first responders stay one step ahead of floods, landslides, volcanic eruptions and other disasters, according to scientists.

Rocketing to orbit from India, the satellite will survey virtually all of Earth’s terrain multiple times. Its two radars — one from the U.S. and the other from India — will operate day and night, peering through clouds, rain and foliage to collect troves of data in extraordinary detail.

Microwave signals beamed down to Earth from the dual radars will bounce back up to the satellite’s super-sized antenna reflector perched at the end of a boom like a beach umbrella. Scientists will compare the incoming and outgoing signals as the spacecraft passes over the same locations twice every 12 days, teasing out changes as small as a fraction of an inch.

It’s “a first-of-its-kind, jewel radar satellite that will change the way we study our home planet and better predict a natural disaster before it strikes,” NASA’s science mission chief Nicky Fox said ahead of liftoff.

Fox led a small NASA delegation to India for the launch.

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“Congratulations India!” India’s minister of science and technology, Jitendra Singh, said via X once the satellite safely reached orbit. The mission “will benefit the entire world community.”

It will take a full week to extend the satellite’s 30-foot boom and open the 39-foot-in-diameter drum-shaped reflector made of gold-plated wire mesh. Science operations should begin by the end of October.

Among the satellite’s most pressing measurements: melting glaciers and polar ice sheets; shifting groundwater supplies; motion and stress of land surfaces prompting landslides and earthquakes; and forest and wetland disruptions boosting carbon dioxide and methane emissions.

NASA is contributing $1.2 billion to the three-year mission; it supplied the low-frequency radar and reflector. The Indian Space Research Organization’s $91 million share includes the higher-frequency radar and main satellite structure, as well as the launch from a barrier island in the Bay of Bengal. It’s the biggest space collaboration between the two countries.

The satellite called NISAR — short for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar — will operate from a near-polar-circling orbit 464 miles high. It will join dozens of Earth observation missions already in operation by the U.S. and India.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.