in effect
This is an executive order signed August 13, 2025, directing federal health agencies to stock a national reserve of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs)—the chemically active components used to manufacture finished drugs. It builds on a reserve program created during the first Trump term and sets specific timelines for identifying priority medicines, securing stockpiles, and preparing storage facilities.
Within 30 days, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) must identify approximately 26 “critical drugs” and locate existing funds to finance the stockpiling effort. Within 120 days, ASPR must have the existing SAPIR (Strategic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Reserve) repository ready to receive and store APIs. Once the repository is certified as ready, ASPR has 30 additional days to place a 6-month supply of APIs for those critical drugs inside it, with a preference for domestically manufactured ingredients. Separately, within 90 days ASPR must deliver an updated list of up to 86 essential medicines and a plan—including a cost estimate—for stockpiling a 6-month API supply for all of them and for opening a second SAPIR repository within one year.
Federal health agencies, primarily ASPR within the Department of Health and Human Services, carry the direct compliance burden and must redirect existing appropriated funds toward this effort. Domestic API manufacturers stand to benefit from a stated purchasing preference that could generate new government contracts. The general public and healthcare providers are the intended downstream beneficiaries, as the reserve is designed to buffer against foreign supply disruptions for essential medications.