BIO Opposes Brat Amendment to Make Mandatory NIH Funding Discretionary

Washington, DC (July 8, 2015) – Today, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) issued the following statement regarding an amendment to the 21st Century Cures Initiative legislation filed by Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA) that would convert the mandatory funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to discretionary spending. 

The following can be attributed to Jim Greenwood, President and CEO of BIO:

“BIO supports the provisions in 21St Century Cures to provide mandatory funding for the nation’s biomedical research enterprise by supporting consistent and dependable growth in NIH funding.

“The NIH is the nation’s premier biomedical research agency.  The work it conducts and supports provides a critical foundation for further biomedical investment and innovation in both the public and private sectors. 

“NIH funding over the past decade has failed to keep pace with biomedical research inflation and, as a result, the success rate of meritorious research proposals has fallen dramatically, which has a long-lasting impact on the development of breakthrough treatments and cures for patients suffering from life-threatening and debilitating disease.

“Consistent sustainable growth in NIH funding is critical to knowledge development that contributes to advancing better health for all Americans. The experiences of the past decade have demonstrated the problems caused by cyclical periods of rapid funding growth followed by periods of stagnation. 

“Over many years, Congress wisely has supported the NIH and increased funding for its essential mission.  In return, American life expectancy has increased by more than six years, and NIH-funded discoveries have contributed to new and more effective therapies, vaccines, and diagnostics, and treatments for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of common and rare diseases that affect Americans and American families all over our country.  Thanks to the work of NIH and our thriving biomedical research enterprise, we lead the world in helping people live longer, better, healthier lives.

“Investing in research now is a critical step toward curing diseases that are threatening the lives of our loved ones and costing the US health care system trillions of dollars in entitlement spending." 

Since the doubling of the budget between 1998 and 2003, NIH funding has failed to keep pace with inflation and the success rate of research proposals has fallen to one in ten promising proposals, which is down compared to one in three in 2003.

BIO supports the 21st Century Cures bill overall, our latest statement on the bill can be found here.