Washington: Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly investing in the United States as the Trump administration pushes to expand domestic drug manufacturing, Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr Mehmet Oz said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a White House briefing, Oz said major drugmakers were already expanding operations in the United States and suggested the trend could accelerate as the administration pursues policies aimed at boosting innovation and reducing dependence on overseas production.
“There is a lot of investment coming to America,” Oz said.
His comments came in response to a question about when Americans could begin seeing the results of pharmaceutical manufacturing projects announced by companies that recently reached drug-pricing agreements with the administration.
Oz said the investments are already underway.
“The jobs are starting,” he said. “When the first time you hire someone to build a plan for you, we have a job.”
The Trump administration has made domestic manufacturing a key part of its economic agenda, arguing that critical industries, including pharmaceuticals, should expand production inside the United States.
Oz said pharmaceutical executives view the United States as an increasingly attractive destination for research, development and manufacturing.
“If you’re a pharma executive, and America is open for business, and we’re trying to support innovation, you know, saving people from cancer, autoimmune problems, dementia, all these different — you want to be where the action is,” he said.
He also pointed to what he described as growing movement of talent toward the United States.
“There’s actually a brain drain from Europe in particular, but other parts of the world as well, if companies want to come here,” Oz said.
The CMS administrator cited recent visits to pharmaceutical facilities to illustrate the pace of investment.
“I went to a ribbon cutting in one in Charlottesville recently,” he said.
He added that some projects are already under construction while others are expanding existing facilities.
“I’ve been to facilities that are already under construction,” Oz said.
According to Oz, the administration has seen signs that manufacturers are committing additional resources to upgrade production capabilities in the United States.
“The President and I visited a facility in Cincinnati a few months ago that again, they’re already in, they’ve already have the facility, they’re already running the facility, they’re making additional investments to upgrade their program,” he said.
The remarks come as the administration promotes a broader healthcare and economic strategy that includes lower prescription drug prices, expanded domestic production and efforts to strengthen pharmaceutical supply chains.
Earlier in the briefing, Oz defended the administration’s drug-pricing agreements with major pharmaceutical companies, arguing that lower prices for American consumers could coexist with increased investment in U.S. manufacturing.
He said the administration’s approach seeks to encourage innovation while ensuring that Americans do not pay significantly more for medicines than patients in other countries.
The United States is the world’s largest pharmaceutical market and remains a major centre for drug research and development. However, a significant share of the global supply chain for pharmaceutical ingredients and generic medicines is located outside the country.
(IANS)
