STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re reading about FDA hiring delays, a new Bavarian Nordic CEO, and more

In the STAT Pharmalittle newsletter, reporter Andrew Joseph fills in and notes ongoing interest in a colleague's story about "neuro-chimeric" mice with half-human brains, which covers both the scientific achievement and the ethical concerns, while joking about whether such mice could find cheese in a maze faster than regular mice.

On the FDA, despite talk of a hiring spree, the reality is more complicated and marked by bureaucratic delays. The cause is the same DOGE cuts that wiped out thousands of jobs earlier in the Trump administration, which have created bottlenecks and confusion in the hiring process. Prospective new employees are now stuck in pre-onboarding limbo, while other routine administrative tasks, such as purchase approvals and travel payments, have fallen by the wayside.

Bavarian Nordic appointed former Sanofi executive Tarja Stenvall as its new chief executive officer, Bloomberg reported. The announcement resets the company's leadership after a failed takeover bid led both the chairman and CEO to step down from the vaccine maker. Stenvall replaces Paul Chaplin, whose departure was announced earlier this year, and will start Oct. 15. The Danish company is best known for its smallpox shot that is also used against mpox.