Health Innovation Package Nears Completion

• On April 6, the Senate HELP Committee held its final health innovation executive session and passed a package of five bipartisan bills.

• During previous executive sessions, the committee approved 14 bills.

• HELP is now trying to reach an agreement on the outstanding issue of NIH funding.

PROGRESS ON INNOVATION

The Senate HELP Committee has passed 19 bills as part of its Biomedical Innovation Project, which Senator Alexander has called the committee’s “cure’s agenda.” The 19 bills contain about 50 bipartisan proposals.

“Sometimes we get caught up in bill numbers and sections, and back and forth of politics and legislating, but as we finish our work, I hope we can focus on the fact that this bill will help improve the health of virtually every American.” – Senator Alexander, 04-06-2016

S. 2700 FDA AND NIH WORKFORCE AUTHORITIES MODERNIZATION ACT

Senators Alexander and Murray. This bill helps the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health recruit and retain outstanding and qualified scientific and technical experts in the fields of biomedical innovation, clinical research evaluation, and biomedical product assessment. 

S. 185 PROMISE FOR ANTIBIOTICS AND THERAPEUTICS FOR HEALTH ACT

Senators Hatch and Bennet. Bacteria repeatedly exposed to the same antibiotics can become resistant to even the most potent drugs. This bill creates a new drug approval pathway to streamline access and encourage innovation and development of antibiotic drugs for patients who have encountered antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The bill accelerates an antibacterial drug’s approval for an identifiable, limited patient population upon determining that the drug treats a serious or life-threatening condition and addresses an unmet need. 

S. 2713 ADVANCING PRECISION MEDICINE ACT OF 2016

Senators Alexander and Murray. This bill encourages the secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out a “Precision Medicine Initiative” to augment efforts to address disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. The initiative may include developing new approaches for addressing scientific, medical, public health, and regulatory science issues; applying genomic technologies; and gathering information from volunteers to better understand health and disease. 

S. 2745 ADVANCING NIH STRATEGIC PLANNING AND REPRESENTATION IN MEDICAL RESEARCH ACT

Senators Collins, Warren, Kirk, Baldwin, Alexander, and Murray. This bill requires NIH to develop a six-year coordinated strategy to outline the direction of biomedical research investments made by the NIH; facilitate collaboration among the research institutes and centers; and advance biomedicine. The bill also requires the NIH director to encourage collaboration between NIH-funded clinical research projects. 

S. 2742 PROMOTING BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH FOR PATIENTS ACT

Senators Alexander and Murray. This bill enables researchers at NIH to spend more time finding treatments and cures and less time on paperwork. Among other things, this legislation streamlines reporting requirements across NIH institutes and centers and helps identify and eliminate unnecessary administrative burdens.