Biden to order analysis of pharma supply chain

President Joe Biden today plans to sign an executive order for a comprehensive review of U.S. supply chains for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and other products.

The order includes an immediate 100-day review across federal agencies to address vulnerabilities in the supply chains related to APIs and three other key products — critical minerals, semiconductors and advanced packaging, and large-capacity batteries.

There are also plans for a more in-depth one-year review of a broader set of U.S. supply chains, including those supporting defense, public health and biological preparedness, information and communications technology (ICT), the energy sector, transportation and, and agricultural commodities and food production.

A White House fact sheet related to the order notes that more than 70% of API production facilitators supplying the U.S. have moved offshore over the years.

The COVID-19 pandemic quickly caused a painful awareness of how much API production had moved outside the country. Former President Donald Trump in August 2020 signed an executive order meant to encourage the reshoring of pharmaceutical manufacturing to the U.S. Trump’s order included “buy American” provisions for U.S. government agencies’ procurement of essential medicines and reduced regulatory provisions.

The White House fact sheet says Biden’s new order will “complement the ongoing work to secure supply chains needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.”