The White House today announced a COVID-19 response plan that includes a major effort to increase at-home rapid testing. President Joe Biden’s plan includes opening new federal testing sites to increase capacity and the distribution of 500 million at-home, rapid tests to Americans. The Biden administration plans to purchase a half-billion rapid tests this winter […]
Defense Production Act
Feds to order 61M more at-home coronavirus tests, build surgical glove factories
Just days after ordering 8.5 million at-home tests from Ellume, the Biden administration announced today that it’s in talks with six other at-home coronavirus test manufacturers. In an online briefing, Tim Manning, the national supply chain coordinator for COVID response, told reporters that these companies could produce another 61 million at-home tests by the end of […]
Pandemic Emergency Manufacturing Act would supplement DPA
A rewritten pandemic manufacturing bill was introduced to both houses of Congress yesterday to enable the federal government to manufacture or contract with existing manufacturers to make products to fight COVID-19. The bill, introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), builds off the COVID-19 Emergency Manufacturing Act, introduced in 2020 to […]
MedTech 100 roundup: Ringing in the New Year with another high
For the third time in the past four weeks, stocks within the medtech industry climbed to never-before-seen heights as 2021 reared its head. Previous highs have largely been a result of the FDA granting Moderna emergency use authorization for its vaccine candidate and its subsequent rollout to the U.S., joining the one made by Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX), […]
Biden to bolster COVID-19 vaccine production with Defense Production Act
Joe Biden is reportedly planning on invoking the Defense Production Act to shore up the production of COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. While FDA has authorized the distribution of vaccines from Moderna Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and its partner BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX), distribution has been patchy thus far. Get the full story at our sister site, Pharmaceutical […]
Report: Ventilators are piling up in government stockpiles
As the COVID-19 pandemic roars on, the government stockpile of once-in-demand ventilators has reportedly turned into a collection of unused devices. The Washington Post reports that, following the panic caused by an anticipated ventilator shortage and subsequent rush to add to the stockpile after President Trump invoked the Defense Production Act, the approach to treating COVID-19 […]
Report: New U.S. reshoring agency may loan billions for manufacturing
The head of the newly formed U.S. International Development Finance Corp. (DFC) said this week that the agency could provide tens of billions of dollars in financing to return manufacturing to the United States, according to a report by Reuters. One of the projects it may finance is a $12 billion semiconductor plant from Taiwan, […]
Report: Trump fundraiser tried to cash in on N95 masks
The co-founder of a political action committee that has raised funds for President Donald Trump may have attempted to profit from N95 respirators made by 3M (NYSE:MMM), according to a report by CBS News. The report said that, shortly after Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to obtain 3M’s respirators, Great America PAC (which raised more […]
DOD launches $100m initiative to return COVID-19-related medtech, pharma manufacturing to the U.S.
The U.S. Department of Defense announced today that it will dedicate $100 million authorized by the CARES Act to boost medtech and pharmaceutical manufacturing in the U.S. Working with DOD, the newly formed U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) launched a request for proposals from companies seeking financing under the Defense Production Act, which prioritizes […]
Report: U.S. may shield medical device makers from antitrust rules amid pandemic
U.S. officials are reportedly set to invoke a law that would protect companies from antitrust regulations to keep medical supplies available during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Associated Press reported that the government began formal discussions with private industry representatives yesterday, the subject of those discussions centering around a five-year agreement that would ensure supplies of […]
FDA yanks 60 Chinese companies’ respirators from emergency use list
The FDA has removed respirators made by 60 companies in China from its emergency use authorization (EUA) list for COVID-19 over concerns that they may be “sub-standard.” The list, which had totaled 74 manufacturers when issued April 24, still includes 15 models of N95 respirators made in China by 3M (NYSE:MMM), plus a number of models […]
