House Committee Adopts Drug Bills

The House of Representatives’ Energy & Commerce Committee on May 15 approved measures that would secure the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain and reauthorize FDA to collect fees from manufacturers of animal drugs. One bill, H.R. 1919, would create a national standard for securing the drug supply chain to replace recently enacted laws in a number of states. It would also require FDA to propose an electronic system for tracking drugs throughout the supply chain by 2027. Several Democrats on the committee opposed the bill, saying a tracking system is needed now, not in 14 years. A second bill, H.R. 1407, would reauthorize the Animal Drug User Fee Act and the Animal Generic Drug User Fee Act, both of which expire on Sept. 30. The measure would allow FDA to collect more than $30 million in fees from the animal drug industry to support the review of New Drug Applications for brand-name and generic animal drugs. The bill would not require FDA to track the sale and use of antibiotics in animals, despite heavy pressure from consumer groups for such a provision.