WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Peter Meijer (R-MI) today joined a bipartisan group of his colleagues in introducing the Continuous Manufacturing Research Act, legislation that would strengthen the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain and support ongoing continuous manufacturing research. The bill was included in the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology’s reauthorization of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Rep. Meijer is a member of the committee.
“The COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant weakness in our supply chain infrastructure. I am proud to support this bill to address these deficiencies and build up our pharmaceutical supply chain. As a member of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, I am pleased that this legislation is included in our National Science Foundation reauthorization,” said Rep. Meijer. “West Michigan is home to world-class medical research and manufacturing. This bipartisan bill will help support those key industries.”
The Continuous Manufacturing Research Act, led by Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA),would allow the NSF to award grants for research into advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing, including continuous manufacturing research. Currently, the NSF can use existing grant funding to support manufacturing research and education in six key areas: nanomanufacturing, robotics, advanced sensing and control techniques, manufacturing enterprise systems, materials processing, and IT for manufacturing. This legislation would establish advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing as a seventh area of manufacturing research.
These investments would provide much-needed assistance to continuous manufacturing programs by supporting advanced manufacturing research, workforce development, and more. Additionally, the bill would authorize grant funding for students pursuing a degree in pharmaceutical engineering.
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