Murray, Alexander Reveal FDA Workforce Modernization Bill

Two lawmakers have unveiled legislation intended to boost the FDA’s ability to hire and retain scientific and technical experts to review drug applications.

Introduced last week by Senate HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the FDA and NIH Workforce Modernization Act would enable the FDA to more actively participate in the Senior Biomedical Research Service to recruit and retain research and review scientists by increasing the number of slots from 500 to 2,000. The National Institutes of Health currently holds 337 of the 500 slots.

The bill also would allow the FDA to pay its employees a higher salary to better compete with the private sector.