The Op-Ed: For Each Day Of The Shutdown, FDA Lost Two Days

For 16 days, the US government was largely closed for business. In the scheme of things, this may seem like a blip, but of course, there will be reverberations for some time. What may be the likely impact on the biopharmaceutical industry, though? After all, the FDA and NIH already have heavy workloads. Can they compensate for lost time? Steve Brozak, president at WBB Securities, an independent research firm, and Anne Marie Noronha, a director at the firm, offer a sobering view… The government shutdown could not have lasted forever. And it did not. After 16 tense days, Congress announced a deal to restore government operations, whose impacts are far-reaching and critical but often under-appreciated. However, as the green light shines on the affected organizations, private pharma, biotechnology and the public will just begin to pay for the disruption. How so? For every day of the shutdown, we estimate two days of delay. The first day was lost while federal employees stayed home, and the second day will be for them to reorganize and reschedule. On the third day, they can finally cover the backlog. For example, the online grant application system at the National Institutes of Health was frozen, leaving scientists across the US uneasy about when their next grant might open or be awarded. They rely on the NIH as a major source of funding and are not known to have extra cash lying around, especially since the sequester. Unfortunately, putting the system back online will not immed...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs