Palantir Co-Founder Joe Lonsdale Wants A FDA Overhaul With Special Forces-Style AI Team Because China Is Racing To Outpace US In Biotech
On Monday, Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) co-founder Joe Lonsdale urged a tech-driven transformation of the Food and Drug Administration, warning that bureaucratic inertia is putting the U.S. behind China in the biotech race.
What Happened: In a blog post, Lonsdale said the FDA's current systems are "sluggish" and outdated, slowing drug approvals and hampering innovation.
To counter this, he announced that the Abundance Institute, in partnership with Stand Together, is raising $4 million to embed 15–20 AI-native engineers, data scientists and product leaders inside the FDA under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act.
"These leaders will remain Abundance employees," Lonsdale said, "but… wire modern data pipes into legacy silos and automate the mind-numbing paperwork that turns months into years."
Also Read: Sarepta Therapeutics Stock Plummets Over 40% On Second Fatal Case Linked To Its Gene Therapy
He compared the effort to special forces units in the military, saying innovation in the defense world happens because nimble, elite special forces teams try key new technology long before adoption by larger forces takes place.
Lonsdale warned the U.S. risks losing global biotech leadership to China, which "is plowing ahead with CRISPR gene therapies and advanced cell therapies," due to fewer regulatory constraints.
"If we let that gap widen," he said, "we will wake up one morning and discover that most of our children's drugs are made in, and controlled by, China."
"Let's boldly push through narrower AI wins that save lives, then expand upon those wins," he concluded, adding, "Let's make the FDA great again."
Why It's Important: Last month, the U.S. FDA launched the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher (CNPV) program to help drug developers fast-track new treatments that align with U.S. national priorities.
The voucher lets companies cut FDA review times from the usual 10–12 months to just 1–2 months by using a new team-based, "tumor board-style" review process with multidisciplinary experts.
The program allows for possible accelerated approval if the product meets requirements.
During the same month, the FDA said it is investigating reports of fatal acute liver failure linked to Sarepta Therapeutics' (NASDAQ:SRPT) gene therapy Elevidys, used to treat Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in non-ambulatory boys.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.