Drug companies with issues pending at the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) shouldn't expect a timeframe, or even an estimate of one, for at least a few days. In welcoming staff back Monday following the historic partial U.S. government shutdown, CDER Director Janet Woodcock advised employees not to provide timeframe estimates, as the agency and the center need to make collective decisions about working through the backlog that has formed since Dec. 22.