This biotech’s stock is soaring after a ‘polarizing’ FDA official is stepping down

A controversial political appointee at the Food and Drug Administration plans to step down for a second time, and the biotech company at the center of a recent debate that involved him saw its stock soar.

UniQure’s stock

QURE was up 38% in premarket trading on Monday. Late Friday, the FDA told the Wall Street Journal that Vinay Prasad plans to leave the agency next month. He is the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, which oversees vaccines and rare-disease drugs. A FDA spokesperson confirmed his departure.