Vinay Prasad, a top regulator at the US Food and Drug Administration, has left the agency after a controversy over his handling of Sarepta Therapeutics Inc.’s gene therapy. “Dr. Prasad did not want to be a distraction to the great work of the FDA in the Trump administration and has decided to return to California and spend more time with his family,

Vinay Prasad, M.D., has left the FDA less than three months into the role as director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), overseeing vaccines and cell and gene therapies.

Shares of drugmaker Sarepta Therapeutics surged in afterhours trading Monday after the company said it would resume shipping its gene therapy.