HOUSE COMMITTEE BOOST FOR GENERICS

The US House Appropriations Committee has voted a budget for $46.6 million for the Food and Drug Administration's generic drug review program in fiscal 1994, which is $4 million more than requested by the Clinton Administration.

In a report accompanying its appropriations bill for next year (see story opposite), the Committee said the extra funding would be necessary for the agency to accommodate its increased future workload within the program. Prescription drugs worth over $10 billion in sales will come off patent over the next few years, and the approval of generic alternatives will save millions of dollars, it said.

The Committee also proposed a budget of $15.2 million for the FDA orphan drugs program, up on the Administration's request for $12 million.