During a 12-year career at the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Durkin served as Acting Director and Deputy Director of the Office of Dietary Supplement Programs (ODSP) in the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN).
Durkin’s role at the Agency involved policy analysis and evaluations across all aspects of the agency’s dietary supplement programs and spearheading innovative programs on compliance and enforcement issues, such as Warning Letters, seizures, injunctions, and import detention/refusal. He also participated in various agency working groups, including the agency-wide Marijuana Working Group, the agency-wide CBD Policy Working Group, and the agency-wide Investigational New Drug (IND) Policy Working Group.
“Attracting nationally recognized leaders like Bob is a testament not only to our work on the most sophisticated matters before the Food & Drug Administration, Federal Trade Commission, National Advertising Division, and in the courts, but also to our culture,” said Ivan Wasserman, AWG Managing Partner.
At AWG Durkin will lead the firm’s Regulatory practice alongside firm partner and longstanding Regulatory Group team member Rend Al-Mondhiry.
“Like Rend, Bob‘s longstanding dedication to the industries we serve and his ‘team first’ approach make him an ideal fit for our firm,” added Wasserman. “Bob further enhances our ability to partner with clients to unravel the complexities of FDA compliance while mitigating the risks associated with the design, labeling, and promotion of their products in the hyper-competitive health and wellness markets.”
Al-Mondhiry added: “With his knowledge of FDA’s inner workings, clients will benefit from his insights and ability to ‘see around corners’ for them while navigating the intricacies of an ever-changing FDA landscape.”