House passes 21st Century Cures Act

The House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed the 21st Century Cures Act, the broad bill designed to accelerate the development and regulatory approval of medical breakthroughs.

The legislation would provide an additional $9.3 billion in mandatory funding over the next five years to the National Institutes of Health and establish a Cures Innovation Fund to support work on breakthroughs in biomedical research. It also would provide $550 million in added funding to the FDA.

Passage of the bill "demonstrates the House’s commitment to working together in a bipartisan manner to improve healthcare in the United States," said American College of Cardiology President Kim Allan Williams, Sr., MD. "The increased mandatory funding for the NIH drives home the importance of innovation and medical research in the healthcare community’s efforts to improve patient outcomes through new treatments.” 

“Bipartisan passage of the 21st Century Cures Act is a victory for patients and their loved ones—and that ultimately means all of us,” said Mary Woolley, president and CEO of Research!America, a broad coalition that includes hospitals, medical schools, drug and device companies and professional associations. “Medical advances deliver profoundly important returns: preventing illness, restoring health, and saving lives from one generation to the next,” she said.

The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) "applauds Rep. Fred Upton and Rep. Diana DeGette for their bipartisan cooperation in drafting, managing and now passing the 21^st Century Cures Act," said Benjamin Corb, public affairs director of the organization. "And we applaud the bipartisan support from the House of Representatives for biomedical research broadly-–and the NIH specifically.  Although we have concerns over some provisions within the bill, we thank Congress for taking this important step towards supporting the biomedical research enterprise.

ASBMB also "strongly encourages" both chambers to pass appropriations bills that adequately fund the NIH today. "Due to the discretionary spending caps established in the 2011 Budget Control Act, fiscal policy is artificially forced to be a 'zero sum game.' Thus, in order for the NIH to see the much needed increases in its budget, other programs in the Labor-Health and Human Services appropriations bills are forced to absorb cuts."