MORGANTOWN — Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin responded to questions from The Dominion Post about what they’re doing to help save the nearly 1,500 high-paying jobs at Viatris’ soon-to-be-closed Morgantown pharmaceutical plant.
Meanwhile, late Thursday, the Legislature passed a bill that could help pave the way for a new plant owner.
The Dominion Post questioned Capito and Manchin during separate press conferences Thursday, pointing out that it’s commonly said pharmaceutical manufacturing standards in India — where some of the Morgantown production is expected to be relocated, along with Australia — are lower than U.S. standards. (Katherine Eban’s book “Bottle of Lies” stirred much debate about the issue, and it’s been reported since that Indian pharma is making efforts to improve.)
The Dominion Post asked them if they considered seeking either critical infrastructure status for the plant through the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency or asking President Biden to invoke the Defense Production Act to keep the plant operating — producing medications domestically — for national security purposes.
Capito said she’s been working with community leaders in Morgantown and with Viatris to try to repurpose the plant and find a solution for the workers facing unemployment. “We know that this is a real tragedy for Morgantown and for a lot of families.”
Regarding the DPA, she said, “I don’t believe we have reached out to the president but I’m certainly willing to do that. Certainly, we’ve made him aware of the situation.”
They’ve also been working with WVU and others to try to solve the problem. “It’s just very difficult for those folks deeply affected. But it’s also difficult to try to reinvigorate that facility. There’s a lot of good ideas out there, it’s just that none of them have hit.”
Manchin said, “I’ve approached everybody about that plant.” He’s even talked to Mark Cuban — Dallas Mavericks owner and cast member of Shark Tank — about starting a new generic pharmaceutical company there.
It’s a large batch plant, one of the biggest in the country, and requires a certain type of successor, he said. “We haven’t given up. … We work on that on a daily basis here.”
They’ve contacted Viatris to see what it can do. “They’ve been wonderful, trying to accommodate anybody that wants to come visit the plant, look at that. Those talks are going on continuously. I can’t can’t guarantee anything. I can guarantee that the effort will be 100%.”
Following up on that, The Dominion Post asked Manchin if Biden has expressed any interest in the issue.
“He’s been very, very clear about manufacturing in America,” Manchin said.
There’s little domestic production of penicillin or antibiotics, he said. “We put ourselves dependent on foreign supply chains for the health and well-being of the American citizen. I think he does get that,” he said.
Manchin said he’s spoken with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra about the issue, and they will continue to meet. He’s waiting to see how Becerra will deal with the supply chain issue and with keeping drugs affordable.
Before his appointment to HHS, Becerra was California attorney general and won four settlement agreements with Big Pharma companies that engaged in what’s called “pay-for-delay” tactics, which allow brand-name companies to delay entry of generics into the market in order to maintain their profits.
“I think manufacturing in America is something that will definitely happen under President Biden,” Manchin said. “I’m going to make sure this plant is the premier plant they should be looking at. We’ve been right on top of it. No timetable, though.”
The plant is scheduled to close July 31.
SB 2005
As part of Thursday’s special session, the Legislature passed SB 2005, which transferred $30 million in surplus funds from the Department of Commerce Development Office Promotion and Closing Fund.
Many states have such incentive funds, which are used to cover funding gaps and close deals for private investment and development projects.
On the House floor Thursday and in a phone interview Friday, Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer expressed hope that some of the money could be used to draw a new operator to the Morgantown plant — for any plant retrofitting or employee retraining that might be needed.
Fleischauer clarified that Viatris has announced it’s leaving the plant and the money couldn’t be used to try to keep it here; it has to be used as an incentive for a new owner.
TWEET David Beard @dbeardtdp
EMAIL dbeard@dominionpost.com
