AdvaMed Joins National Campaign to Improve Supply-Chain Performance

Council on Supply Chain Resilience. The group is tasked with advancing Biden’s long-term, government-wide strategy to establish resilience within the supply chain. The council will be co-chaired by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and National Economic Advisor Jared Bernstein and include Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra. Among the responsibilities of the council will be to identify supply-chain risks through data sharing, as well as recommendations to address those risks, and address the working conditions for those employed in the country to keep supply chains running as issues arise.

Utilization of Defense Production Act. The primary source of presidential authority to expedite and expand the supply of materials and services from the US industrial base needed to promote the national defense, the act will be utilized to produce more essential medicines throughout the country and to mitigate drug shortages. President Biden reportedly will issue a presidential determination to broaden HHS authority to enable investment in domestic manufacturing of essential medicines, medical countermeasures, and critical inputs that have been deemed essential to the national defense. HHS has reportedly identified $35 million for investments in domestic production of key starting materials for sterile injectable medicines and will designate a supply-chain resilience and shortage coordinator dedicated to medical product and critical food supply chains. HHS also reportedly intends to institutionalize this coordination to advance the department’s supply-chain resilience and shortage mitigation goals over the long term, and the Department of Defense is expected to release a new report on pharmaceutical supply-chain resilience aimed at reducing reliance on high-risk foreign suppliers.

Supply Chain Data-Sharing Capabilities. The administration has developed several cross-governmental partnerships to improve supply-chain monitoring and strategy, including a Supply Chain Center that’s described as a first-of-its-kind initiative to develop innovative supply chain risk assessment tools and to coordinate analyses on select critical supply chains to drive targeted actions to increase resilience. Additionally, a partnering with HHS will result in better assessment of industry to help address foreign dependency, vulnerabilities, and points of failure for critical drugs.

Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW) Program. A public-private partnership led by the Department of Transportation, FLOW will bring together supply-chain stakeholders to create a shared, common picture of supply-chain networks and facilitate a more reliable flow of goods. Stakeholders are reportedly beginning to utilize FLOW data to inform logistical decision-making to avoid bottlenecks, shorten lead times for customers, and enable a more resilient and globally competitive freight network through earlier warnings of supply-chain disruption.