AdvaMed pushes Biden to use $52B chip program to support medtech supply chains

Dive Brief:

AdvaMed is calling on the Biden Administration to ensure the implementation of the $52 billion CHIPS Incentive Program enables medtech companies to access the semiconductors they need.
The intervention by the trade group comes as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Commerce work to implement a program designed to create incentives for domestic production of semiconductors.
AdvaMed wants the agencies to coordinate with the medtech industry to ensure “investments are directed towards mature nodes and technologies that power medical devices that save lives.”

Dive Insight:

The $52 billion in subsidies provided by the bipartisan CHIPS Act, which Congress passed in July, could reshape the semiconductor supply chain that supports U.S. businesses. AdvaMed said in a statement on its website that it seeks to guarantee the new supply chain will work for its members.

Responding to the NIST and CHIPS Office, the trade organization made several recommendations. AdvaMed wants to see the agencies coordinate with medtech and other critical industries and urged them to work with the Department of Defense, which carried out a review of four critical sectors, including medtech, that found a reliance on mature chips sourced from outside the U.S.

“It is essential that the CHIPS Act direct appropriated funds to chip manufacturers to support a secure, adequate, and continuous supply of mature semiconductors, especially as new federally incentivized domestic semiconductor facilities are constructed,” AdvaMed wrote.

The group also wants to see coordination with “leading trading partners” such as the European Union to “avoid duplication of efforts.” Officials in other parts of the world are grappling with the same issues and, believing it “is not feasible to reshore the entire semiconductor supply chain,” AdvaMed is calling for the U.S. to work with allies to ensure their programs complement each other.

In addition, the organization said it wants to see key agencies including the Food and Drug Administration play a role in the evaluation of the incentive program and for industry to have a formal consultation mechanism.