AHI Asks Congress for Quick Reauthorization of ADUFA

Washington, D.C. – March 30, 2023. The Animal Health Institute (AHI) joined veterinary medical experts to present testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the reauthorization of the Animal Drug User Fee Act (ADUFA). Dr. Rachel Cumberbatch, AHI Director of International and Regulatory Affairs, urged Congress to swiftly reauthorize the bill that enables veterinarians, pet owners, and livestock producers to keep animals healthy and our food supply safe.

“Animal health products help treat, control, and prevent disease in 10.5 billion animals in the U.S. annually,” said Cumberbatch. “Veterinarians must have medicines available when needed to treat a disease or disease threat, and many animals still suffer because their ailments lack treatment options.”

ADUFA provides necessary funding to the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) to facilitate the review and approval of innovative animal medicines, and it must be reauthorized by September 30, 2023.

With nearly 70 percent of U.S. households owning a pet, keeping animals healthy is an issue that cuts across all geographic, demographic, and economic lines. Owners of America’s 192 million dogs and cats and their veterinarians need tools to control pests, manage pain and address a range of diseases to protect the health and welfare of companion animals.

For the $199 billion meat production industry, keeping animals healthy is a matter of animal welfare, public health, economics, and sustainability. Advanced medicines and diagnostic tools that identify, prevent, cure, and even eradicate disease in food animals help make the U.S. food supply among the world’s safest and most economical. Animal medicines also help farmers operate more sustainably and profitably. Healthy animals are simply more productive, since animals that struggle with disease require more resources, and may never produce as much as if they had never fallen ill.

The proposed ADUFA agreement is designed to improve the drug approval process and incentivize the development of therapies to address the unmet medical needs in animals. It provides a platform for the animal health industry to work with CVM to ensure new and innovative therapies are available to pet owners, farmers, ranchers, and veterinarians.

“The reauthorization of ADUFA will continue to provide the agency the resources necessary to maintain and improve the drug review process, provide new and innovative products to allow our pets to live longer and healthier lives, and contribute to food safety by keeping food animals healthy,” Cumberbatch said. “I urge you to pass a clean ADUFA reauthorization.”