United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order to incentivise drug manufacturing in the U.S.
The order would incentivise pharmaceutical companies to build more manufacturing sites in the U.S. and direct the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reduce the amount of time it takes to approve a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant.
It also states that the FDA should increase fees for foreign manufacturing plants.
This is part of Trump’s plans to put America first and force the FDA to prioritise American manufacturing over foreign facilities.
“We don’t want to be buying our pharmaceuticals from other countries because if we’re in a war, we’re in a problem, we want to be able to make our own,” Trump said.
“As we invest in the future, we will permanently bring our medical supply chains back home.
“We will produce our medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, and treatments right here in the United States.”
According to FDA Commissioner Mark Makary, the order will allow the FDA to conduct more inspections of new manufacturing sites. The agency will also ramp up inspections of foreign drug facilities, switching from announced to “surprise” visits overseas.
“We had this crazy system in the United States where American pharma manufacturers ... are put through the ringer with inspections, and the foreign sites get a lot easier with scheduled visits, while we have surprise visits,” Makary said.
The order also directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to accelerate the construction of facilities designed to manufacture drugs, active pharmaceutical ingredients and other necessary raw materials.
This comes as pharmaceutical companies brace for a tariff announcement in the near future.
If Trump implements the tariffs, the import changes will have a particular impact on companies based in Britain and Ireland, which have large trade surpluses with the U.S.. Last year, pharmaceuticals were one of the U.K.’s largest exports to the U.S., valued at £6.5 billion.
A 25% drug tariff would also increase drug costs by almost US$51 billion, marking a 12.9% increase, according to analysis from the accountancy firm EY commissioned by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the main US industry group.
Some companies are even pushing back on Trump’s plans, with Pfizer's CEO Albert Bourla saying that the tariff threats are deterring the company from making further U.S. investments in research and development and manufacturing.
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