Pandemic Underscores U.S. Dependence On Overseas Factories For Medicines
Nearly three-quarters of the facilities that produce key pharmaceutical ingredients for the U.S. market are located overseas. Rebuilding domestic capacity would take time and substantial investments.
The coronavirus pandemic has renewed concerns about the dependence of the United States on other countries for supplies of prescription drugs and ingredients.
The U.S. ignored the decline of domestic medical manufacturing and waited too long to seriously invest in the federal office designed to prepare for pandemics, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said in an interview.
"We are now paying both in needless exposure by our front-line health workers and needless deaths for having not been better prepared for this," he says.
Nearly three-quarters of the active ingredient manufacturing facilities for medicines sold in the U.S. are located in other countries. Only 28%
