Just the News No Noise with John Solomon and Amanda Head, September 5th, 2025

Summary

Podcast Summary

Just the News No Noise with John Solomon and Amanda Head

Date: September 5, 2025
Network: Real America’s Voice / iHeartPodcasts
Main Theme:
A comprehensive and forward-looking exploration of America's critical pharmaceutical supply chain crisis, the urgent national security risks of foreign dependency, and rapid efforts—driven by Trump administration policies, Congressional action, industry innovation, and public-private partnerships—to bring drug manufacturing, key ingredients, and innovative production technologies back to American soil.

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Main Topics & Discussion Structure

1. The Crisis: America’s Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Vulnerability

• Opening Lens: John Solomon introduces the night’s deep dive by detailing the collapse and vulnerabilities in America's drug supply—a situation he blames on the Biden administration, with the groundwork for improvement being rapidly set under the Trump administration ([00:25-02:01]).
• Key Problems:
  • 70% of Critical Ingredients (APIs/KSMs) produced in China and India.
  • Over 90% of antibiotics manufactured overseas ([02:30], John Knox).
  • National security and patient health at risk due to foreign controlled supply lines ([02:30-03:41]).

2. The Solution: Federal Action and New Manufacturing Paradigms

Guest: John Knox, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Responses, HHS

Executive Orders and Policy Moves ([02:30-04:22])

• President Trump’s signature executive orders to bring manufacturing back on shore.
• Creation of incentives, regulatory relief, and strategic stockpiles.

Innovative Manufacturing Technologies ([05:11-07:04])

• Rapid development of "mini-factories" or "virtual printers" capable of manufacturing annual supplies of generic antibiotics in a single room.
  • 3D printing and continuous manufacturing to bypass traditional processes and key starting materials.
  • Public-private partnerships unleashing American innovation:

    “There is a lot of ingenuity here in America. There always has been. It’s just been stifled for years.” – John Knox [05:11]

• Moving API production from months to hours through new technologies.

Economic & Strategic Benefits ([08:21-09:27])

• Rebuilding the American manufacturing sector, job creation via trade schools.
• Use of the Defense Production Act, regulatory relief, tariffs, and tax incentives to accelerate reshoring.

On Bipartisan Support ([03:41])

“We have support from both the House and the Senate... They understand that it’s important that we as Americans be strong in the field of medicine.” — John Knox [03:41]

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3. Congressional Actions & Industry Incentives

Guest: Rep. Marionette Miller-Meeks, M.D. (R-IA)

Supply, Shortages, and Congressional Moves ([13:37-16:54])

• Pandemic exposed dangers of U.S. dependency; Biden admin “did nothing” but now urgent action.
• Congressional hearings and the “big beautiful bill” offering tax, capital, and R&D incentives for U.S. pharma manufacturing.

“More importantly, it helps any kind of company. And pharmaceutical companies... are one that’s going to benefit.” — Rep. Miller-Meeks [14:09]

Interim & Long-Term Solutions ([17:42-19:25])

• Building strategic reserves of key ingredients (APIs/KSMs).
• Using compounding pharmacies and interim measures for shortages.
• Long-term vision: Stand up large-scale factories, but immediate stopgaps are crucial.

Prioritization and Energy Policy ([19:53-21:20])

• Tiered prioritization: lifesaving drugs and antibiotics take precedence over less critical meds.
• Manufacturing depends on affordable, abundant energy.

Addressing Pharmacy Benefit Managers and Competition ([21:20-22:47])

• Push to reform PBMs, combat vertical integration, foster competition, and lower prices.

“PBMs...have an outsized role. It is absolutely an area we need to look at... Federal legislation needs to address this.” — Rep. Miller-Meeks [21:39]

Most Favored Nations & Global Pharma Pricing ([22:52-25:09])

• Balancing U.S. domestic policy with renegotiated contracts abroad, keeping manufacturing and R&D attractive at home.

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4. The Industry View: Innovation, Supply, & Domestic Manufacturing

Guests: David Schick (Argentum), Craig Henahan (Red Oak Sourcing)

U.S. Market Risks and Dependency ([27:24-28:44])

• 90% of all U.S. prescriptions are generic; most produced globally.
• A significant disruption abroad could leave Americans without essential drugs within 8-16 weeks.

“If we were sourcing a drug outside the U.S...and that country...halted the shipment...within eight to sixteen weeks we would be out of stock.” — Craig Henahan [27:51]

Regulatory Relief & U.S. Resilience ([29:11-31:35])

• Argentum as a rare true U.S.-owned generic manufacturer.
• Executive orders and policy moves seen as encouraging; calls for strategic stockpiles and investment in both drugs and ingredients.

Micro-Manufacturing: The “Factory in a Room” ([31:11-34:45])

• New phase of tech: Small, adaptable manufacturing units can supplement stock before large factories come online.
• Technology allows for production in small spaces, using continuous and automated methods.

“To make a drug that is enough supply for an entire year, you really don't need an enormous factory anymore.” — David Schick [33:11]

Supply Chain Issues

• Chief worry is continuity of supply, not always cost; FDA relied on for safety oversight ([33:48-34:24]).

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5. National Security Perspective

Guest: Col. Vic Suarez (Ret.), Blue Zone Bioscience

Military Medicine and Supply Chain Weakness ([37:34-39:06])

• Firsthand experience with shortages for trauma care in forward military areas.
• “We can't even get basic medicines for trauma care” due to foreign dependency ([37:59]).

Next Steps: Advanced Manufacturing, AI, & Industry Collaboration ([39:06-43:21])

• Meetings in D.C. bring together public officials and 20-30 industry reps focused on bringing advanced, continuous manufacturing processes online.
• Shift from old, solvent-based, overseas manufacturing toward tech-driven, U.S.-controlled supply.

Critical Minerals Link ([40:45-41:30])

• Drug manufacturing depends on minerals; mining and refining influence pharma supply—mineral shortages are a pharma supply chain choke point.

“HP Printer” Model for Medicine ([41:59-43:30])

• AI-driven, on-demand micro-facilities able to produce essential drugs rapidly—“a compounding pharmacy on your desk.”

“Something the size of an HP printer...can make a critical medicine within hours...for quantities as small as individual patients... or for thousands... for a few hundred thousand dollars.” — Vic Suarez [41:59]

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6. Congressional Perspective: Dr. Rich McCormick (R-GA)

• Focus on “Made in America” and the importance of domestic production capacity ([44:52-46:14]).
• Criticism of Biden Administration’s lack of action on supply chain security.
  • “They didn’t care about controlling costs ... Absolutely a blind spot in their administration.” — Rep. McCormick [46:34]
• Parallel defense concerns: U.S. also unprepared in critical military supplies and oil reserves ([47:57-49:21]).
• Bipartisan work to overhaul broken procurement system.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On urgency & innovation:

  “What we’re looking at now, a room about the size of this studio…can turn out a whole year supply of a generic antibiotic because of these new innovative technologies.” — John Solomon [00:25]

• On bipartisan recognition:

  “They understand that it’s important that we as Americans be strong in the field of medicine.” — John Knox [03:41]

• On magnitude:

  “Some people compare this to putting a man on the moon. What's going on is so innovative, so advanced.” — John Solomon [08:21]

• On national vulnerability:

  “We can’t even get basic medicines for trauma care on the far forward areas.” — Col. Vic Suarez [37:59]

• On rapid technological change:

  “We will be able... to create an API in hours.” — John Knox [07:04] “Something the size of an HP printer...can make a critical medicine within hours...” — Vic Suarez [41:59]

• On industry view:

  “Hundreds of the most important drugs…are just not made here, they're largely made in Asia. Some of these drugs should…be reshored.” — David Schick [29:11]

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Key Takeaways & Forward Look

• Crisis Averted?
  The episode conveys cautious optimism: Advanced technologies, strong leadership, Congressional action, and American innovation are rapidly closing the gap, but vigilance and sustained policy are necessary.

• Future of Pharmaceuticals:
  Micro-manufacturing, automation, and locally controlled production promise both resilience and strategic independence.

• National Security Tied to Health Security:
  Dependence on foreign, sometimes adversarial, nations for critical medical supplies is presented as a clear and urgent national security threat.

• Multi-faceted bipartisan solution:
  Fiscal, regulatory, and technical incentives, as well as cross-sector collaboration, are converging to “Make America Generics Great Again.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Setup & Crisis Defined: [00:25-02:30]
• Policy & Tech Solutions (John Knox): [02:30-11:33]
• Congressional Perspective (Miller-Meeks): [13:12-25:19]
• Industry Solutions (Schick/Henahan): [27:23-35:25]
• Military/Strategic (Col. Suarez): [36:56-43:58]
• Congressional Wrap (McCormick): [44:52-49:21]

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Tone

Direct, urgent but optimistic, occasionally confrontational toward prior administration, and consistently focused on American innovation, bipartisan solutions, and a sense of national mission. Dialog is conversational, accessible, and mixes gravitas with moments of banter.

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For listeners:

This episode provides a comprehensive understanding of why America’s pharmaceutical supply chain matters, what’s being done at every level of government and industry, and which innovations are about to reshape how medicines reach Americans—making it both informative and, ultimately, hopeful.

Transcript

[John Solomon]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

Hello, America. Happy Friday. Welcome to the latest edition of Just the News. No noise. I'm your host, John Solomon alongside the amazing amaz Head to head. We're going to do something a little different tonight. We're going to let you worry about the breaking news headlines. Steve just took care of you for now. You're going to get more from Grant in a little bit. Just the news has got you covered all the way through. We're going to go back and take a second or third deep dive into, I think, one of the most important subjects facing our country, the critical condition of our pharmaceutical supply chain. It has been left in tatters by the Biden administration. Donald Trump jumping in. Right after we did our first special on this, Amanda, Donald Trump's folks started announcing executive orders, major innovations. Now we're putting the supplies into a strategic reserve like we were supposed to legally, but weren't under Joe Biden. And we're beginning a manufacturing renaissance. But in between those two extraordinary solutions, there's a window of time where America has to produce generic drugs without large factories capable of doing that. Tonight, we're going to let you peer into the future a little bit with an all star cast of guests. Tonight, we're going to show you what's going to be possible soon. A room about the size of this studio, what we're in right now can turn out a whole year supply of a generic antibiotic because of these new innovative technologies. We're going to show you what that means and how it could radically change the next two or three years of medicine in America. We have the perfect guest to kick us off on that venture today, Amanda. I can't wait to get started. All right, Joining us now, the point man who's made all of this extraordinary progress happen inside the Trump administration. He's the principal deputy assistant secretary for preparedness and and responses at the Health and Human Services Department, John Knox. John, great to have you on the show, sir.

[John Solomon]

Thank you. Thank you for having me on again.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

It's kind of funny because over the last four years we watched the Biden administration accomplish nothing in this clear problem that we've had a critical condition in our pharmaceutical supply lines. You guys are in just a few months and there has been such enormous progress. The executive order, obviously a signature moment. But almost daily your department is moving this down the road so that we get to a full manufacturing capability, full supply chain. Bring us up to speed on what's just happened since the last time we had you on the show.

[John Solomon]

Well, as you know, the President has definitely made it clear that he wants to bring manufacturing back to the United States and that includes critical medications for the American people. As we talked about last time, one of the issues is that over 70% of the APIs, active pharmaceutical ingredients and the key starting materials that are used for manufacturing medications are produced in China and India. And the other critical issue is that over 90% of all of our antibiotics are produced there as well. And so they've looked at that, both Secretary Kennedy and President Trump, and they have tasked us with bringing that back onshore and strengthening our manufacturing capacities as it falls under national security issue.

[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

Absolutely, sir. Look no further than yesterday and Secretary Kennedy's hearing up on Capitol Hill to know that Democrats are standing against a lot of the good work that you guys are doing at hhs. But this might be different. This, you know, Republicans get sick, Democrats do too. Does it feel like this is bipartisan?

[John Solomon]

You know, I mean, we have, it's for our organization and what we're doing. We have, you know, support from both the House and the Senate regarding, you know, fiscal year 26. They did indicate funding to continue to support these efforts, though modest, but it's still going to allow us to help push this forward. You know, so they understand that it's important that we as Americans be strong in the field of medicine. And so they've tasked us, like I said, to really come up with creative solutions to be able to solve those problems and start onshoring medications.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

Yeah, so important. All right, so we've done a lot to understand the bookends to this great strategy that you put in the case. We've got the big, big beautiful bill that creates all these incentives that we start building the big beautiful factories that will make the making particular of generic drugs more common in America and more regular and take away the vulnerability in, in the short term. You filled the strategic stockpile back up. That's starting to happen. That is a big moment in between. We're starting to, we've been just doing some reporting or learning a lot. There seems to be some innovative solutions that your administration is looking at where you can produce a certain amount of generic drugs pretty quickly in like a one room factory, sort of almost like virtual printers of very clean, safe drugs. Tell us a little bit about some of the innovative ideas that are being thought about to fill the gap before those big factories that got their assembly lines running.

[John Solomon]

Well, I think that's really crucial when we look at onshoring medications. We here in the United States have A completely different labor force than what they do in China and India. We don't have slave labor here, competing at those levels with huge bulk factories. We don't have the capacity or the ability to do that. We have to look at new and innovative ways, like you mentioned on how to strategically come up with ways to make things simpler and faster. And so by reaching out to our private partner industry, having public private partnerships, we have the ability. There is a lot of ingenuity here in America. There always has been. It's just been stifled for years. And so really, our task right now is looking at what those innovative technologies are and how we can apply them to. Like you said, I mean, we, we can do 3D printing of medications in pill form. We have, we're working on projects that we don't have to have the key starting materials. It completely bypasses that to make the active pharmaceutical ingredient. So we're looking at these ways, how we can jump ahead of the curve using technology, sound technology, to be able to bring that onshoring back here to compete with those companies, you know, in China and India.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

This is pretty big stuff.

[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

Absolutely, sir. When it comes to the KSM and the APIs, the things that, you know, I think that it is very conceivable that we can onshore those very, very soon. How many different drugs can you make from those? Are we talking a few dozens, Hundreds? How many can we make from those?

[John Solomon]

So the, you know, you have the key starting materials, and those are all the pieces that go into the API that make the active pharmaceutical ingredient. Each medication has usually a specific API that it uses. So there are some that use, you know, multiples. But primarily it's, you know, whether it's atropine or lidocaine or whatever the drug is that you're looking to manufacture, you have that API for that. So it's usually on a one to one per basis. So we do have companies that we're working with that are actually now producing APIs here in the United States. And that's super exciting. And we have some fantastic technology and other companies that we're working with that are in the process of bringing this to market to where, you know, it used to take us months to create an API. And we can, we will be able to do. We can. But moving it forward through the regulatory process, we will be able to do that in hours. So, you know, the technology is there and American innovation is striving to, you know, take back the market that we've lost over the past 50 years.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

So amazing. When you, some of the people I've talked to over the last few days compared this to putting man on the moon, that what's going on is so innovative, it's so advanced technology, it's so groundbreaking. After 50 years or 40 years of malaise and letting this incredible industry gravitate to an enemy or to a country that has some quality control problems with its drug supply chain, when this administration is done, how significant is this to the future of America? Achieving this sort of in house pharmaceutical capability?

[John Solomon]

Again, it's huge. You know, I mean, if you look at it from different standpoints, we've, we've offshored everything in manufacturing over the past 50 years and we've become a service industry.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

Right.

[John Solomon]

A lot of this technology that will be able to move forward. You know, if you look at it, I mean, trade schools, the President's talked about trade schools and things like that.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

Right.

[John Solomon]

Using those types of things, we can train people up to be able to work in these facilities, to, to be able to bring jobs back to America.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

Right.

[John Solomon]

I mean, we're, we're suffering from a lot of things. You know, I don't want to go into everything, but the point being is that at the end of this, I mean, this will be significant. Not only will we have onshore, you know, medications and be able to do them cheaper and faster. You mentioned the big beautiful bill. You know, I mean, that's provided significant funding for dpa, which is the Defense Production Act. And so using those authorities, you know, with Asper and our partners, we're working on how to use those authorities to create success. You know, regulatory relief through the President's, one of his executive orders on promoting domestic production for critical medicines. All of these levers and things that are being pulled right now are being done so that we can help the manufacturer start on shoring this. Whether, you know, he's using tariffs, tax incentives, I mean, there's a lot of different things that, that he's working on to move that through. And with the Secretary, Secretary Kennedy, I mean, they're on the same page. They want to make Americans healthier. We do know that we have a sick population in our country and having specific critical medications that help in that. Not only his vision of getting people healthier, but there are always going to be a need for critical medications. And so moving that forward, I think is really crucial at this point. And at the end, I think we're going to be sitting in a really good place.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

Yeah, I think that that's true. And the reporting that we've done on this is just amazing to us. It really is an incredible process. And you so are right in the middle driving this. It's a great honor. I know how busy you are, but a great honor to kick off our show tonight with your time and thank you so much for making yourself available.

[John Solomon]

I appreciate it. It's an exciting time to be, you know, an American. And looking at what the administration wants right now is really to boost the economy and bring manufacturing back. And so we're going to do everything that we can to make that happen.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

Making access, access to those generic drugs would be so important. What an amazing milestone to be aiming for. Thanks again for your time, sir. Thank you. All right, folks, a quick commercial break ahead. When we come back, we have a congresswoman, a Dr. Marinette Miller. Milk. She'll be here. Meeks, I'm sorry, will be here to discuss more about what Congress is doing on this important issue. That's right. Quick break right after this. Hey, folks, let's be honest. Our body lets us know, right? We're not getting any younger. And if you want to look and feel your best, you need to check out our good friends at Pure Health research. They have 45 premium health supplements designed to help with every health goal, whether it's boosting your energy, trimming belly fat, supporting healthy blood sugar, pumping your testosterone up, or even reducing swelling in your legs. Prayer Health Research is supplement store has you covered. Each formula is crafted with natural non GMO ingredients backed by clinical research and manufactured right here in the good old usa. And here's the best part. Pure Health Research is offering you an exclusive 35% discount. You heard me right, 35% off. Just go to PureHealthResearch.com and use the coupon code Just News at checkout. With their 365 day money back guarantee, there's zero risk in trying something new. So why wait? Head over to to PureHealthResearch.com right now. Explore their 45amazing supplements and save 35% before this deal ends with the coupon code. Just News. Don't miss this chance to feel your best.

[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

Welcome back, everybody. Because we had such positive reception the first time around, we are taking another look at America's pharmaceutical industry tonight because President Trump has taken steps to get some crucial pharmaceuticals made here in the United States as opposed to countries like China and India. So joining us now to talk about those steps and what Congress might be able to do as well is a doctor and Iowa Congresswoman Marionette Miller Meeks. Congresswoman, thank you so much for being here.

[Congresswoman Marionette Miller-Meeks]

It's great to be with you both.

[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

You know, President Trump, along with Congress, you guys have supported some really, really innovative measures to bring the pharmaceutical industry back to the United States. It seems like maybe one of the most influential is the regulatory relief that could be offered as an incentive to bring that industry back home. But what are going to be some of the next steps that are important to making sure that this solution is finally brought home, sewed up with a bow on it, so that the American people can feel secure about the drugs that they might need in a crisis?

[Congresswoman Marionette Miller-Meeks]

What's interesting about this is that certainly the pandemic highlighted the need to have pharmaceutical supply chains here in the United States. We talked a lot about this. We talked about the Strategic National Reserve and how we onshore, how we have things available. As you know, we have drug shortages for different drugs intermittently throughout the years. We know that there was difficulties getting medications or milk or pet food from China, if people will remember a decade ago, those issues that had arisen. And so even though we know this is a problem and both candidates talked about it in the run up to the 2020 election, we had four years where absolutely nothing was done. So this President is finally doing something about it. And so I think the, you know, the platform that they have put forward on advanced pharmaceutical ingredients, or APIs, also key pharmaceutical ingredients, KPIs. We've done some things in Congress. We just had a hearing on this in the Energy and Commerce Committee on the Health Subcommittee, of which I'm a member. So we've had a hearing on that. We will be doing more. We'll be addressing drug shortages. And so in alignment with what the President is doing, recognizing the need for manufacturing, generic manufacturing, having more competition and more available. And let me also say that in addition to what the President has just released, what Congress did and the President signed was the one big beautiful bill. So when it comes to manufacturing and support for manufacturing, all of those provisions, the tax provisions, the capital expensing, the keeping the corporate interest rate down, the depreciated bonus depreciation, immediate expensing 100% for research and development, or R and D, all of those are things that help us to build manufacturing here in Iowa and in the United States. But more importantly, it helps any kind of company. And pharmaceutical companies are one that's going to benefit. The other thing is we have to make sure that the FTC does its job. And when there's too much vertical integration, so it ends competition, then that's where the FTC needs to step in. When you have consolidation in a marketplace so you don't have competition, that helps bring down costs. And then thirdly is the work that we're doing on pharmacy benefit managers and looking at the entire supply chain, looking at this opaque middleman and helping to bring supply costs down, but it also helps support pharmaceutical industry, including generic pharmaceuticals.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

Pretty impressive what's been accomplished in a few short months. And Congresswoman, you've been at the forefront of this in Congress, one of the most influential, influential persons there. Now we got Jay Bhattachar, the president on the administration side. It seems like the bookends are built. We've got the supply chain now bringing in the ingredients, and we're finally filling a strategic reserve that Joe Biden left empty. And we've got the incentives to build these big manufacturing facilities that are maybe two to five years out. A lot of people are wondering, what are some of the innovative ideas to fill the gap when you have the ingredients but not the manufacturing capability? I know there are some new technologies where basically you can build a factory in a room and, you know, you don't have mass scale, but you can start making some of the drugs in their entirety. Can you give us some of the things you've been looking at that maybe is a good interim solution? Can we get those big beautiful factories back?

[Congresswoman Marionette Miller-Meeks]

Well, first, let me say what you mentioned about the strategic national reserve. So it's critically important. And so we're looking at, when we're talking about advanced pharmaceutical ingredients or key pharmaceutical ingredients, those are the building blocks for medications, be they generics, be they antibiotic, generic antibiotics, you know, having a reserve of those is critically important because that's how you build those medications. So first and foremost, I think that portion of it, looking at the building blocks, the supply chain, you know, people hadn't really looked at that. And as I said, we just had a hearing on this in the Energy and Commerce Committee. So I think that's important. The tax provisions are important also, but we also have to expand that to testing reagents, those ingredients that we know that there was short supply chain. And then looking at where we have drug shortages and how we have those components so you can have tax provisions that help with manufacturing. To your point, we have some manufacturers already here. Can we use compounding pharmacies in the interim for short term shortages? That's not a long term solution, but it is a solution to use compounding pharmacies already in the United States. And we're already doing that with some of the medications we have in shortages until we allow larger manufacturing facilities to be stood up. So I think that we've got the key building blocks to be able to do this and then we've got some interim provisions that will assist also. So I think we're on the right track. We just need to, you know, recognize the problem, which we've done, and then put forth solutions to that problem.

[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

Absolutely. Congresswoman, as a physician, do you see a delineation between what gets prioritized and what doesn't? Because, you know, you've got issues like, I don't know, psoriasis or restless leg syndrome, while I'm sure those are awful to deal with, it's not the same as a chemo drug or even an antibiotic where if it's not treated, you can become septic and die. Do you see a delineation where we can prioritize certain things to come back home and other things maybe can come home, but just later?

[Congresswoman Marionette Miller-Meeks]

Absolutely. I think that looking at that, and that's why it was important to address both the APIs and the KPIs, those building blocks for drugs. We know that most of our generic drugs and antibiotics are developed overseas. So bringing that back in and addressing those shortages and then also antibiotic resistance. So I do think that there is an opportunity for a tiered approach. And this is also how we sell drugs, how we dispense drugs. So it's a, you know, an entire supply chain that we have to look at. But yes, we should prioritize. And we also have to pay enough for medications that these generic medications can be made here in the United States. Part of that is what we've done on energy. And I know it sounds like a strange thing to bring in when we're talking about, you know, prescription drugs and pharmaceuticals. But in order to have manufacturing, you have to have energy. And so low cost, affordable, abundant energy in the United States is critically important. And those provisions that we had in the one big beautiful bill, the reconciliation bill to support energy of all sources in the United States, and so that it's affordable and abundant, I think is also very important to what we're doing in onshoring and bringing back manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, especially antibiotics and some of those lower cost generic drugs that are widely used, but you can have short run into shortages.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

Yeah, you touched on something that a lot of people have a question. You and Senator Grassi have been leaders on this, trying to get the pension or the pharmaceutical benefit managers, the middlemen out of the way. Are Certainly from inflating the prices. It's been talked about a lot in Congress for a long time. What do you think the chances are that inflation this next year that gets done?

[Congresswoman Marionette Miller-Meeks]

I think that it's going to get done within this term in Congress. So within the 119th Congress. Remember when I passed my first PBM reform bill in 2019 as a state senator, I had to convince people to vote for it. It was on the transparency part of it. But. And pharmacy benefit managers have a place in the whole supply chain. But right now they have an outside sized role and there is, you know, consolidation within the industry which the FTC is now looking at. But it, it is a reason why certain medications aren't available, why tiers are changed from one year to another where a drug may cost a certain amount and then the next year it's two to three times that. The rebates and administrative fees. It's absolutely an area we need to look at. And we are, and I think we're going to finally see some legislation and states are now outpacing craziness. As I said, my first Bill was in 2019 and we see a lot of work on the states, but it needs to be federal legislation that addresses this issue. And I think it's going to get done before the end of 2026.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

Making America generics great again, a new form of MAGA. How about that?

[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

Congressman, before we let you go, I want to ask you about how most favored nations affects this because President Trump to. Wants, wants to bring prescription costs down for the American people. You said we have to make sure that we're paying enough. So if those costs get, get brought down for the American people, but they are raised for other nations, does it even out and neutralize any detriment that it could be to the efforts that you're talking about?

[Congresswoman Marionette Miller-Meeks]

So I think that you're correct in most of the things that we do that there is a balancing act. So we know that the US has been subsidizing lower cost drugs and other places. And the message to the pharmaceutical industry is to renegotiate contracts with foreign countries. We want to have robust pharmaceutical development here in the United States. That is, as you said, the immune suppressing drugs, the drugs that for rare diseases, orphan diseases, which the Biden administration had some unfavorable regulation around. We want pharmaceutical industries to be located here in the United States, all types of medications and prescription medications. We need to keep energy costs low so we can have manufacturing here. We're not going to look lower labor costs, which is one of the things that makes it detrimental. Having a favorable tax structure, you know, keeping that corporate tax rate at 21% instead of it having gone up if the Tax Cut and Jobs act expired at the end of the year. All of those things, they're all small components which are going to help us do that here in the United States. And then that balancing act on, you know, having cost raised in certain other countries and lowered here in the United States, but then also continuing to have a robust pharmaceutical market in the United States for both, you know, other drugs that are less commonly used, but also for generics and antibiotics here, and then testing reagents. Those things, I think are all critical. They're all critically important. We should not be dependent upon other foreign nations in a crisis. And we found that we were during COVID and that some, some practices that we want to end and make sure we have that here in the United States. We it, we innovate, we improvise, we adapt. We have a work ethic like no other country. And I think here in the United States is where we can really get things done.

[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

Congresswoman, I tell you what, whether it is the legislative side or the medical side, you are such a wealth of information. We are so lucky to have you here. Congresswoman Marionette Miller Meeks, thanks so much for being with us tonight.

[Congresswoman Marionette Miller-Meeks]

Thank you.

[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

Absolutely. All right, everybody, we're going to have much more for you on this very important topic on the other side side of these commercials.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

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[David Schick]

Thank you.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

Craig, I want to start with you. You are in a fascinating position because you're on both sides of this very important solution. At one side you're consuming and buying the generic drugs. On the other side you're helping to create a short and long term solution to make sure we can reshore this important manufacturing line to America. Tell us, how did we get to this point where the most common drugs we all use, the generics, the antibiotics, were basically outsourced out of our country.

[Craig Henahan]

Well, if you think about it, 90% of all prescription drugs in the US are generic pharmaceuticals. And the sourcing of generic pharmaceuticals is really a global endeavor. And so it's highly complex in the sourcing of it with a number of processes, whether it be around the approval process, the manufacturing process or the distribution process. And if, you know, if you want to think about it this way, if we were sourcing a drug outside the U.S. that was a single source generic pharmaceutical in that country, for whatever reason halted the shipment of that product, I would estimate that within eight to 16 weeks we would be out of stock of that product and that patients trying to get the medication would be having a very difficult time.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

Wow.

[Craig Henahan]

So a lot of the manufacturing as well as the API manufacturing is all done outside the U.S. whoa.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

Wow. That's scary. Eight, 16 weeks, that's scary.

[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

David, I want to ask you because Argentum is obviously already doing a great job, but when it comes to regulation, for you to do your job better, to provide more drugs for the American people, for you to do that, how, what needs to happen as far as regulation? Or is this administration, have they already stripped away enough such that you can really ramp it up?

[David Schick]

So thank you for having us on. I really appreciate it and letting us maybe say a few words about our company. So Argentum is one of the only true US based and US owned generic drug companies in the United States. Since we founded the company in 2015, we've worked to obtain a number of settlements with several branded drug companies. These settlements allow us to enter certain generic markets with a generic form of a drug once it goes off patent. And that is our business today. However, along the way, as we built the company, Argentum has sort of come to realize just how hollowed out our generic drug manufacturing industry has become here in the United States over several decades. We've recognized this to be a real concern for the country. Something which should be a strategic national interest. Hundreds of the most important drugs used in hospitals, antibiotics, blood pressure medications, they're just not made here, they're largely made in Asia. We believe that some of these drugs should to a certain extent be reshored, meaning that investment should take place to bring some of this manufacturing back to the US both finished dosage drugs and the APIs that go into making those finished dose products. So we've been working with a number of partners and investing our own capital into addressing this problem. And we would like to be and plan to be an important part of the long term solution to this. Just to get back to answering your question, the administration, the EO that came out, it's incredibly encouraging to see that we want to see more interest in this problem. We think it is a hugely important national concern and Argentum plans to be a big part of coming up with that long term solution.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

It's so amazing. All right, so we know that to buy or to build a big brick and mortar factory that has large scale, it's going to take two to five years. With all the things that go into building a factory, staffing it up, permitting, et cetera, you have some pretty remarkable solutions that fit in like an office space or a little small building. Tell us about what that could do short term to fill up our supply before those big factories get roaring.

[David Schick]

Yeah, I mean the way that we think about this is that there's really two phases to addressing this issue and One would be to maybe look at. There are in the United States some strategic stockpiles of certain of PPE and other healthcare equipment and some drugs. But one thing that we would like to be involved in is building a larger, more lasting strategic reserve of, of many different medications across many different therapeutic areas. And this could be done for just the US Military, the Defense Department. It could be done on a state by state basis. It could be done on a nationwide basis, taking a percentage of the use of those products over a year and focusing on that as a stockpile. That stockpiling would be what we would consider to be phase one. Phase two would be building new next generation continuous manufacturing of some of these products. A lot of these generic drugs that are so critical to the health and well being of millions of Americans are drugs that are actually quite easy to manufacture. They've been manufactured for decades. And there are a lot of, I mean, we don't have a lot of time to go into it, but there are some really incredible new technology around manufacturing pharmaceutical products very quickly in, as you said, a very small space. This does not have to be to make a drug that is enough supply for an entire year. You really don't need an enormous factory to do that anymore.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

That's amazing. Amazing.

[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

Before we let you guys go, Craig, I know at Red Oak, you guys are the largest buyer of generic drugs in the United States. When you are sourcing these drugs from, I mean, we've already been talking about it, China and India, most likely, what are the biggest issues that you run into? Is it quality control as far as contamination? Is it, you know, improper orders fulfilled? What's the biggest issue you run into with them?

[Craig Henahan]

No, well, you know, I left Fred oak back in 2016, but when I was there, the things that kept me up at night were, were really the continuity of supply. You know, it was, you know, making sure that we had the product that our patients were going to need in their, with their medicine. So price, we used to always say, yeah, we may arm wrestle over price, but if you don't have the product, it doesn't do you any good. So that would be the number one concern as far as safety and efficacy. You know, we relied heavily upon the FDA to ensure that the products that we were supporting sourcing were safe and effective for the patients.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

Yeah. So amazing. David, one last quick one. We got to go. But I want to ask. It seems as though that you could take a bunch of these micro processing plants that are now this new age of innovation, string them together and get a large scale pretty quickly even before a factory could come up. Is that maybe a way of re envisioning manufacturing even on the grander scale?

[David Schick]

We think it is. Absolutely. Is that happening right now? No. Is it possible for that to be happening two years from now? Absolutely. We want to be very much involved in this. I think that it is going to be a collective effort of a number of companies that are US Based, US Owned companies. And Argentum plans to be a big part of this effort.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

That's so huge. I think both of you gentlemen are going to play a major, major role in what's going to be a history changing, innovative moment in American manufacturing. It's a great honor to have you on the show, gentlemen. Thanks for joining us today.

[David Schick]

It's an honor to be here.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

Yeah. What a great conversation. What two great men. All right, folks, we're going to take a quick commercial break. When we come back, we're going to wrap up with some more conversations on this topic with a man who just met with some of HHS officials. Talk about this very issue you had him on before. He's a retired colonel. One of our favorites, Vic Suarez, right after the commercial break.

[Promotional Speaker (possibly Steve Bannon or announcer)]

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[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

I have never seen anything like this.

[Promotional Speaker (possibly Steve Bannon or announcer)]

Two un unforgettable days filled with patriots, barbecue and live shows straight from the most amazing place, the America First Warehouse. Get ready for a special guest to be announced plus a three hour live episode of Studio 6B. And we're just gonna go do it on the 12th. Steve Bannon will host War Room Live at 5pm and Steve will be back again on the 13th followed by one hour with Teeter Navarro.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

I went to prison so you won't have to.

[Promotional Speaker (possibly Steve Bannon or announcer)]

The Rebels, Rogues and Outlaws tour September 12th and 13th at the America First Warehouse. Scan the QR code to see pricing and availability. Don't miss this opportunity.

[John Solomon]

Tickets won't last.

[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

Welcome back everybody to this very special edition of JUST THE news. No noise. We are talking all about America's pharmaceutical industry and the steps that we need to take so that we aren't dependent on foreign countries for some very crucial medications. So joining us now is someone who knows about this problem very well. He's a retired army colonel and now is the founder and principal growth partner at Blue Zone Bioscience and Supply Chain Solutions. Back on April 30th. In 2024, he appeared before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel and his focus was holding the Pentagon accountable for making sure our service members get safe, high quality medications. Vic Suarez. Vic, thanks so much for being back with us.

[Vic Suarez]

It's pleasure to be back. Hello, Amanda and John, thank you.

[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

Great to have you. And this, this is a forward looking conversation, but for those who missed our previous conversations, you, you gave us some harrowing information about some supplies and drugs that were desperately needed on some of our bases where our service members work. And I just want you to recount that a little bit, just a few minutes worth for our audience before we get into what we should be doing next.

[Vic Suarez]

Sure thing. A couple of years ago when I was on active duty, I was in a pretty senior position managing kind of a global supply chain of pharmaceuticals med surg items. And I saw a real big vulnerability over the last several years, specifically from a national security perspective where we weren't, our formations, our special forces units, our, our frontline units were not able to get basic medicines that would be needed for trauma care on the far forward areas. And this is not something I saw 15, 20 years ago at the early part of my career. And so I started looking into it more and I started to see that, you know, our global dependence on adversarial nations and strategic competitors has led to this problem now where we can't even get basic medicines for trauma care.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

Wow, that's just stunning. It's just stunning. You were a lot of people, I've done a lot of reporting on this the last couple of months and a lot of people say you were the most important siren that when you gave that testimony to Congress, people were shocked. So much has happened. We've got the executive order. I think you were meeting in the last few days with folks at the Trump hhs. Tell us what you're learning on the inside of where they're moving this next.

[Vic Suarez]

Yeah, so I think there's a lot of excitement and buzz. I was meeting with some officials yesterday here in the, the D.C. area and really the next steps is that they have the charge under John Knox's team to really implement this new executive order. And some of the exciting things that they're working on is they're working with industry. And I was in a room Yesterday with like 20 or 30 industry reps working with the government team under John Knox to identify capabilities and performers that could use next generation technology. So we're talking about advanced manufacturing technology, continuous flow technology and on demand manufacturing capabilities. That really is really the next horizon to, to save a lot of costs in the manufacturing, gives us A lot more strategic flexibility of where we make these, these medicines, but also shifts us away from where the Chinese and the Indians and their manufacturers have caused a lot of quality issues. And that's old chemical synthesis methods. It uses a lot of toxic solvents and certain reagents that are not of the highest quality. And we can pivot that to continuous manufacturing where we can produce higher quality yields of some of these medicines. But we're starting to see that right now there's again over 20 people in the room. And so I think that's a good sign. And some of the folks that are on John Knox's team are pretty motivated and excited to press this forward with industry.

[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

And just to bring the direness of this situation into the conversation. You know, oftentimes when we're talking about mineral mining, especially with respect to China, we're thinking about technology. But that trickles down into the pharmaceutical industry as well, doesn't it?

[Vic Suarez]

Yes, I mean there's a good number of medicines that rely on critical minerals. I mean if you think about the, the chemistry table you saw in high school, a lot of those, I mean, think about magnet magnesium, calcium, potassium, a lot of those are actually used in our critical medicines every day. And if they're not purified or we can't access them in our most purest form, or we can't even access them to begin with because we don't have any access to the mines, that became, that becomes a critical choke point upstream in the pharmaceutical supply chain. So there is a lot of crossover between the topic of critical mines and minerals and what we have for our health system here in the United States.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

Huge. That's amazing. Last time you were on, you gave us a little vision of what's over that horizon for us with artificial intelligence. It's possible that while we build these super size manufacturing and make generic production again large scale, in the short term there are small footprint manufacturing facilities driven by technology and AI that can get the process going before those big plants are operational. Tell us a little bit more about what you're seeing develop on that front.

[Vic Suarez]

Yeah, so what we're seeing, and I can tell you we're seeing this at the university level, which is exciting as some of the pharmaceutical sciences programs. We're seeing it in industry now with a couple companies that are focused on on demand manufacturing devices. Think about this, something the size of like an HP printer chained together in a closed system that can fit on a typical desktop that can make a critical medicine within hours. And for quantities that could be as Small as for individual patient care in what we would call precision health or precision medicine, all the way to small scale for the thousands and do this in places that would cost only a few hundred thousand dollars to install versus hundreds of millions of dollars to build in a manufacturing capability. And so one of the things we saw yesterday was a call out from the federal team to also not only make this from a generic pharmaceutical standpoint for small molecule drugs like the chemical drugs, the tablets and the pills that most people are used to, but also a program to launch to make this for biologics, protein type biologics for critical therapies or even vaccines in the future. So that's some of the things that are right on the horizon right now. And there are companies out there that are going after this technology.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

One of them that's pretty exciting.

[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

Vic, it sounds like this would this, this HP printer that you were talking about is basically a compounding pharmacy on your desk, is that right?

[Vic Suarez]

Typically that that's what it is. It's taking what you would see in a compounding pharmacy that's done manually. Okay. The old, you know, the old methods of kind of crushing the medicine and then, and then cap. Putting in a capsule, they. We have machines now by the aid of computers that can be very precise with a lot of the, in the process, what we call process analytic technology that can actually measure the quality and the actual content of the drug that's in there in real time.

[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

Thank you so much for blowing the whistle on this. We have loved having you on. We'll have you back on again, I'm sure to stay on this topic. Vic Suarez, retired Army colonel and the founder and principal growth partner over at Blue Zone Bioscience and Supply Chain Solutions. Thanks so much for being with us again tonight, Vic. And some final thoughts from the both of us after this break. Welcome back, everybody. We want to close with a piece of an interview that we did last night because sometimes you have questions and you get answers that are so important. So we want to use some of that from last night. Night with Congressman, Marine Corps veteran and he's also a doctor, which is why he's perfect to be here to talk about. Yes, indeed, an overachiever. His resume is about as long as my leg, which is actually not that long. It's a lot longer for his resume. All right, everybody, so we're going to play this piece of our interview with Congressman Rich McCormick.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

And Joy, we knew coming out of COVID that this was a weakness. We saw it in real time during the pandemic and then Joe Biden's team did nothing. Now President Trump's gotten in, he's got an executive order. They're rip ramping up, they're refilling the supply chain. It seems like the next big opportunity is figuring out how to ramp up manufacturing in phases. It takes a while to build a big factory, but there are these micro factories in technology now that can make some drugs quicker and faster. Tell us what Congress is doing to try to push that along.

[Congressman Rich McCormick]

Well, first of all, the kind of maiden in America initiatives that President Trump has been pushing to get production here in the United States so it can't be cut off, so that we are in control of our own destiny is really important. Doesn't mean we only supply here, but that we have the ability to ramp up very quickly. I know US Antibiotics is, for example, a company that produces amoxicillin, augmentin. There's not too many companies that do that. And it's a basic drug, not a huge profit margin. What happens is China supplements their industry with government supplementation so they can undersell the rest of the market, put everybody else out of business, then they control the market. They also control the basic elements for these drugs, and that causes a problem, too. So basically, we need to make sure that we are prepared so that when the day comes first of all, that we're able to transition to a hardier production scale. But also we have the basic elements, produce the medications to begin with, that.

[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

Strategic active Pharmaceutical ingredients reserve, or SAP here, I guess as everybody calls it, that was created under President Trump. But as John cited, the Biden administration do anything about it? Did they just have a blind spot when it came to putting America first? I mean, that would have been really dangerous if there had been another pandemic, because then they would have had egg on their face. Why didn't they?

[Congressman Rich McCormick]

You know the good question, why? They did a lot of things, especially when it came to health care. These guys didn't prep for anything. They didn't do anything to save any money. Viserys was probably the worst Health and Human Services secretary of all time. He lost. Or he was a lawyer, first of all, a lawyer in charge of health care who lost four Supreme Court issues to Texas when they sued him over and over again because he was representing basically big insurance instead of health care. This guy was totally sold out to special interests, like a lot of the Biden administration. They didn't care about controlling costs. They're totally bought into the Affordable Care Act, AKA the Obamacare, which has not been anything to do recognize to affordable. Matter of fact we had an increase of our premiums about 30% since that time with the reduction of reimbursements to physicians by about the same when adjust for income for inflation which is forced us into a hospital system that's way more expensive for everybody is the single big biggest cost to Americans out of your pocketbook, out of your taxes. It's about a $5 trillion industry here in America. Over 5 trillion. Now think about that. That would be the size of the third largest GDP in the world. Just what we spent on health care for a year. He didn't do anything to address that. Absolutely a blind spot in their administration. Just like so many things else. They were not prepared. They didn't do anything to, to make us independently strategically secure.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

Yeah.

[Congressman Rich McCormick]

And by the way, don't forget the oil reserves. We don't have our own reserves yet. Thinking we go to war right now, we are not ready. And that's all on Biden's head trying to buy votes by warping the market.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

Yeah. Sir, another issue that is parallel to this. We not only have trouble getting medicine to our men and women on the front lines because of the dependency on China, but our system for developing our weapons and our supplies for our troops is so antiquated and creaky, it's broken. You've been taking an extraordinary lead on this. Everyone I talk to is praising the work you're doing. Tell us where that process stands and what sort of procurement system we might be able to look forward to in the next few years.

[Congressman Rich McCormick]

You know, I just met with the Secretary of the Air Force today. It was a bipartisan meeting just talking about procurement. Talk about which programs are doing well, which ones are not. When you talk about procurement, it always, if it starts well, it ends well. And it starts badly, it ends badly. We are done with the broken process where we're, we're 50%, 100%, 150% over budget, six months, a year, a year and a half behind on timeliness. We have really been doing a poor job on this and the time for those kind of wasteful days is way over. Luckily, we've kind of got our arms around this. Chairman Rogers has been super aggressive in this regard and I think it's just time to do things right.

[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

Doctor, Marine Corps veteran and Congressman Rich McCormick. Sir, thank you so much for being with us tonight. We hope you enjoyed that. I have to admit, John, when we first started these conversations, I went from very, very scared to now feeling pretty darn good. About the options and the solutions that our country has.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

You were hanging this far from the abyss of a major crisis. Now we got a solution in place. We just got to keep it running fast until it gets there. But I feel better, too.

[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

Absolutely.

[Host (possibly John Solomon or co-host)]

We saw the future tonight.

[Co-host (possibly Amanda)]

Back from the cliff. Thank goodness. Yep. And. And thank you to all of our guests who have been here for three different specials, giving their opinions on this and offering wisdom on, on all these critical issues. We hope you all have a fantastic evening, a wonderful weekend, and we'll be back here on Monday at 6pm Eastern.

[John Solomon]

This is an I Heart podcast.