(Bloomberg) — The US Department of Defense entered an agreement with Valisure, an independent lab that’s spotted dangerous chemicals in a variety of widely used pharma and consumer products, to test medications amid surging concerns about generic drug quality and shortages.
Under a multi-year agreement, Valisure will test dozens of drugs for dangerous chemicals and rate manufacturers’ quality to help the department weed out potentially substandard treatments, according to a statement from the Connecticut-based laboratory. The partnership is a cooperative research and development agreement to exchange information, and the Pentagon will not pay Valisure.
Nine out of 10 drugs consumed by Americans are generic, low-cost copies of innovative medications whose patents have expired. Concerns about the generics industry — largely based in India and China — have exploded as the US encounters shortages affecting drugs such as life-saving cancer therapies made at a plant in India found to have major quality shortfalls.