On Wednesday, November 19, the Senate Special Committee on Aging will hold a hearing titled “Made in America: Restoring Trust in Our Essential Medicines.” The session is set to highlight U.S. companies that are successfully manufacturing essential generic medicines domestically. The focus will be on how American manufacturing can help ensure drug safety, create jobs, and protect national security.
Committee Chairman Rick Scott and Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand will lead the hearing. They, along with other committee members and witnesses, plan to examine barriers to local production. These include regulatory obstacles, foreign price manipulation, and transparency issues within the supply chain. The committee aims to explore strategies for reducing dependence on China and other foreign countries while encouraging domestic innovation and competition.
This hearing builds on previous efforts by Scott and Gillibrand to strengthen the U.S. drug supply. Their actions have included sending letters to major U.S. pharmacies, FDA Commissioner Martin Makary, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., pharmaceutical distributor executives, and group purchasing organizations. They also released a research report highlighting the risks of relying on foreign-made generics.
The committee has recently held two hearings—on September 17 and October 8—to assess potential threats from foreign reliance and discuss ways to boost domestic manufacturing and ensure Americans have access to safe, high-quality medicines.
Witnesses scheduled for the upcoming hearing include Tom Neely (Chairman of the Board at Oxford Pharmaceuticals), Allan Coukell (Chief Public Affairs Officer at CivicaRx), Patrick Cashman (President of USAntibiotics, LLC), and Dr. Eric Edwards (CEO of PHLOW-USA).
The hearing will take place at 3:45 p.m. ET in room SH-216 of the Hart Senate Office Building. A live stream will be available online.
