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House passes FDA Reform Act
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The U.S. House of Representatives passed its Food and Drug Administration Reform Act by a 387-5 vote.
The bill reauthorizes and expands a user-fee program for drugs and medical devices. The legislation also is designed to help prevent drug shortages, accelerate federal approval of generic drugs and speed reviews of breakthrough therapies for life-threatening diseases.
The House approval came 6 days after the Senate approved similar legislation by a 96-1 vote.
The House and Senate now must reconcile relatively minor differences between the two measures before submitting the legislation for President Obama’s approval.
Provisions in the House and Senate versions of the legislation would require drug makers to notify the government about potential drug shortages, including when they plan to discontinue or interrupt production. The federal government would have the ability to alleviate shortages by finding new suppliers, either within the country or overseas.
Drug shortages reached record highs in recent years. The number of drug shortages nearly tripled from 61 in 2005 to 178 in 2010, according to an FDA report released last fall. An estimated 230 to 270 drugs went into shortage last year.
The legislation would give hospitals the ability to redistribute medication within their own networks, an action prohibited under current law.
It would require drug makers and medical device companies to pay $6.4 billion over 5 years to help cover the costs incurred by the FDA during its review of their products.
The measure also would introduce fees for the review of generic drugs and less expensive versions of biotechnology products. The generic drug fees are expected to reduce review times to one-third of current levels and improve the availability of generic products for patients, according to sponsors of the legislation.
The Congressional Budget Office said the bill would allow for earlier marketing of lower-cost drugs, which would reduce the average price of drugs on the market. The legislation could also save more than $750 million over 10 years in Medicaid, Medicare and federal subsidies for private insurance.