Buckeye Reporter

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Gary Peters (D-MI), andMarsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced bipartisan legislation to fight drug shortages by building and maintaining reserves of critical medications and their key ingredients, and reducing reliance on foreign drug manufacturers. The Rolling Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient and Drug (RAPID) Reserve Act would require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award contracts to quality generic drug manufacturers based in the United States or in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries. Contract recipients would be required to keep sufficient reserves of key ingredients and finished drug products on hand and increase their production capacity to help prevent shortages before they occur. U.S. manufacturers will be prioritized for federal contracts to help mitigate the national security threat posed by an overreliance on foreign countries for critical medications.

“There is no reason Americans should face shortages of critical medicines and be forced to rely on countries like China or India for nearly 90 percent of the critical pharmaceutical ingredients that go into these drugs, when we have talented scientists and manufacturers right here in Ohio,” said Brown. “This bipartisan legislation will help build emergency capacity for critical medicines here in the U.S. to address vulnerabilities in our supply chain and prevent future shortages.”

The legislation is endorsed by Phlow Corp., a U.S.-based public benefit corporation that develops and domestically manufactures critical active pharmaceutical ingredients and finished pharmaceutical products.

“Americans need a stronger pharmaceutical supply chain to be more self-sufficient in case of a future public health emergency, trade dispute with a foreign adversary, or natural disaster that threatens our essential medicine supply chain,” said Dr. Eric Edwards, CEO and Founder of Phlow Corp. “This bill is a critical first step in securing a resilient supply chain free from essential medicine drug shortages that continue to threaten the healthcare for all Americans.”

For years, Brown has fought to ensure Ohioans have access to life-saving medications, and to ensure national security through robust supply chains and reserves built by domestic manufacturers. The RAPID Reserve Act would strengthen vulnerable supply chains—a key driver of shortages—by ensuring that when one manufacturer experiences a disruption in supply, other manufacturers are able to draw on reserves and surge production to meet demand. The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to assess current domestic manufacturing capacity and how the federal government can further bolster the domestic production of critical medications and drug ingredients.

Original source can be found here.