Commerce Asking for Comments on PPE, Drug Importing

The Commerce Department, seeking to submit a report by Feb. 2 on initiatives to strengthen the public health industrial base, is soliciting comments from stakeholders on the need to make more drugs, active pharmaceutical ingredients or protective gear in the U.S. Comments can be submitted through Dec. 23. Commerce wants to know what parts of the industrial base are most vulnerable during a pandemic, what lessons were learned responding to COVID-19, and how capacity did or did not ramp up this year. It encourages commenters to explain whether they are consumers, manufacturers, distributors, or a research and development operation.

It's asking drug manufacturers what percentage of their drugs are dependent on foreign suppliers, either for finished drugs or for active pharmaceutical ingredients, and how they could source those domestically if they had to. “Are there any costs, regulatory or other factors that make it difficult or impossible to produce or source Essential Medicines, Medical Countermeasures, and/or Critical Inputs in the United States?” the notice asks. It also asks specifically how big a concern pricing is, and whether automation funded by the government could resolve that hurdle.

They also ask: “From your organization's perspective, how dependent is the U.S. supply chain on foreign suppliers for items for use in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)?”

The notice asks: “What are the challenges to investing in automation and other productivity-enhancing technologies in the United States as compared to moving operations abroad to lower-cost labor countries?” It also asks how the government could ensure long-term demand for domestic products.