COVID Therapeutics Progress (Or Lack Thereof) May Be Political Vulnerability For US FDA

COVID treatments have not advanced as rapidly or as publicly as vaccines. That may trigger some issues for the US FDA as Congress digs into the next phase of the COVID response – and starts to assess agency performance and leadership after the crisis.

Lack of clear progress on COVID therapeutics is getting more political attention. • Source: Shutterstock

A $3bn boost for COVID therapeutic development in the Biden Administration’s American Rescue Plan is a tiny piece of the enormous $1.9tn recovery package, but the discussions that the funding will trigger about FDA’s performance in the pandemic response could have implications beyond the size of the investment.

The therapeutics funding is small even compared to just the public health commitments in the new President’s proposed COVID relief...

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