Chairman Rick Scott and Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging will hold a hearing on November 19 to discuss domestic production of essential, generic medicines. The session, titled “Made in America: Restoring Trust in Our Essential Medicines,” aims to highlight U.S. companies that manufacture these drugs domestically and examine how American production can improve drug safety, create jobs, and protect national security.
The committee plans to address several challenges facing efforts to increase domestic manufacturing. These include regulatory obstacles, manipulation of prices by foreign countries, and issues with transparency in supply chains. The hearing will also look at strategies for reducing reliance on China and other foreign sources while encouraging innovation and competition within the United States.
This hearing is part of ongoing work by Chairman Scott and Ranking Member Gillibrand to strengthen the nation’s drug supply chain. Their previous actions have included sending letters to major pharmacies, FDA Commissioner Martin Makary, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., pharmaceutical distributors, and group purchasing organizations. They have also released an investigative report about dependence on foreign-made generics and conducted two earlier hearings this fall focused on potential threats from foreign dependence and solutions for boosting domestic manufacturing.
Witnesses scheduled to testify include Tom Neely (Chairman of the Board at Oxford Pharmaceuticals), Allan Coukell (Chief Government Affairs & Public Policy Officer at CivicaRx), Patrick Cashman (President of USAntibiotics, LLC), and Dr. Eric Edwards (Chief Executive Officer at PHLOW-USA).
The hearing will take place at 3:45 p.m. ET in the Senate Hart Office Building (Room SH-216). A live broadcast will be available online.
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