White House Releases Supply Chain Report Reflecting ASHP Recommendations

Earlier today, the White House published a 100-day review assessing vulnerabilities in critical supply chains and recommendations to strengthen their resilience. The review was conducted by government agencies at the direction of Executive Order 14017, signed by President Biden on Feb 24, 2021. The full report, titled Building Resilient Supply Chains, Revitalizing American Manufacturing, and Fostering Broad-Based Growth, addresses critical supply chains, which include pharmaceuticals as well as active pharmaceutical ingredients.

The report identifies three critical pillars of the pharmaceutical supply chain that align with ASHP’s recommendations to strengthen supply chain security:

1) The ability to manufacture high-quality medications,
2) Diversification of the pharmaceutical supply chain, including geographic diversity, and 
3) Redundancy within the pharmaceutical supply chain, including multiple manufacturers for pharmaceuticals and components.

The report also addresses the lack of transparency in manufacturing locations for pharmaceuticals and components and supports emerging manufacturing technologies. ASHP worked closely with government agencies as they collected and analyzed information to develop policy recommendations in the 100-day review.

“ASHP is pleased to see pharmaceutical supply chain policy recommendations consistent with findings and recommendations from our 2018 summit examining drug shortages as a matter of national security, and our 2020 summit on safe, effective, high-quality medicines as a matter of national security,” said ASHP Vice President of Government Relations Tom Kraus. “ASHP has long advocated for policies to end drug shortages and strengthen our drug supply chain.”

“We look forward to continuing to work with the White House and federal agencies to incorporate ASHP’s supply chain expertise in federal policies,” Kraus said.

ASHP will update members on the implementation of supply chain recommendations.