President Donald Trump said he plans to nominate Scott Gottlieb, a former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) deputy commissioner with ties to the pharma industry, as the next head of the regulatory body, various media reported.

Gottlieb is a partner in a venture capital fund said to have close ties to the pharma and biotech industries. The apparent nominee is a consultant or board member at several firms including GlaxoSmithKline and earned more than USD 400,000 (EUR 375,000) from pharma companies between 2013 and 2015, The New York Times reported.