Senators Inch Toward Deal on FDA User Fees Tied to Stopgap Bill

Senate leaders are finalizing details on a deal to reauthorize industry fees to the FDA, with just days left until the existing agreement expires, a key negotiator and committee aides say.

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), ranking member of the Senate health committee, told reporters Thursday that a stopgap measure to keep the government funded past September would guarantee money from industry user fees to the Food and Drug Administration for fiscal 2023 through 2027. The FDA has repeatedly warned a lapse in user fee funding would require the agency to lay off thousands of employees.

The update follows weeks of ...