Lawmakers proposed a $100 million plan to bring more drug development to the U.S. amid fears of coronavirus-related drug shortages, CNBC reported.
About 72 percent of the manufacturers that make pharmaceutical ingredients the U.S. relies on are located overseas, 13 percent being in China, according to CNBC. That puts the U.S. in a vulnerable position for drug shortages when crises such as the coronavirus pandemic halts production.
Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Bob Menendez, D-N.J., have proposed a bill that would funnel $100 million into U.S. drug development.
The bill, called the Securing America’s Medicine Cabinet Act, would encourage drugmakers to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. and create an "advanced manufacturing technologies unit" within the FDA to prioritize issues related to national security and critical drug shortages.
The bill would authorize $100 million to develop Centers of Excellence in advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing to encourage innovation and train the workforce in the drug industry.
The bill is at least the third attempt to bring more stability to the U.S. drug and medical device supply chain.
Earlier this month, two congressmen proposed the Medical Supply Chain Security Act, which would allow the FDA to identify sourcing locations for medical supplies, according to CNBC.
Last year, Reps. John Garamendi, D-Calif., and Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., proposed the Pharmaceutical Independent Long-Term Readiness Reform Act, which would require the U.S. Defense Department to buy only American medicines and vaccines.
Some lawmakers are pushing for the FDA to disclose which drugs and medical supplies are vulnerable to shortages caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The FDA is not currently required to disclose that information to the public, according to CNBC.
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