Jenniffer González reintroduces legislation to expand and attract medical manufacturers on U.S. soil

Washington, D.C. -Puerto Rico’s sole representative in U. S. Congress Jenniffer González-Colón, reintroduced the Medical Manufacturing, Economic Development and Sustainability Act (MMEDS Act), which provides federal tax and other incentives for pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing facilities in domestic soil and those that move their production to the United States.

“One of the main lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic was how essential it is for our country to have a reliable supply chain, especially in times of need and uncertainty. Forty percent of our finished medications and eighty percent of their active ingredients are manufactured in China; and most of the manufacturing sites for medical countermeasures for use against biological, chemical, and radiation threats are located outside of the United States, mainly in China. Strengthening the U.S. medical supply chain is not only an issue of economic development, it is essential to our national security,” said Representative Jenniffer González Colón. “The MMEDS Act has a dual effect; it provides an engine of economic development for our domestic economically-disadvantaged zones while strengthening our nation’s safety and global standing by promoting in-house manufacturing and attracting overseas production.”

Senator Rubio joined Representative González Colón to reintroduce companion legislation in the U.S. Senate.

“Puerto Rico has the capabilities to be a key player in this endeavor, given it has well-established medical equipment and manufacturing infrastructure, as well as its highly trained workforce. I thank Senator Rubio for introducing a companion bill in the Senate to continue our work on behalf of all Americans,” added González Colón

The MMEDS Act creates Distressed Zones, areas with sustained poverty levels higher than 35%– to incentivize research and development (R&D) and manufacturing of pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices to drive economic development throughout the United States.

The MMEDS Act seeks to accomplish three critical national security objectives:

• Lessen the U.S. dependency on medical equipment manufacturers in foreign countries, like China, and encourage U.S. companies to re-shore operations from nations deemed to pose a risk to U.S. medical preparedness into economically distressed zones within the United States. The tax incentives provided by the MMEDS Act seek to level the playing field between the costs incurred by manufacturing in overseas locations and the costs in American jurisdictions, while rewarding actual and expanding domestic production.
• Restore lost jobs and economic well-being by getting Americans back to work in well-paying and sustainable jobs while incentivizing pharmaceutical manufacturing operations in economically distressed zones, where the need for economic recovery is greatest. By directly tying incentives to job creation and maintenance, capital investments, and purchases within an economically distressed area, the MMEDS Act ensures that money is spent in the communities and that economic activity is generated.
• Protect America’s vulnerable populations by facilitating a BARDA-led public-private Strategic Initiative to stimulate innovation and development of advanced population health medicines; and (2) by providing tax incentives to encourage innovation and development of population health medicines in economically distressed zones.

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