BIO Applauds House Passage of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act

Washington, DC (December 20, 2018) – Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) President and CEO Jim Greenwood issued the following statement applauding passage today by the House of Representatives of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2018 (H.R. 7328). The legislation would re-authorize critical federal biodefense programs and agencies, including the BioShield Special Reserve Fund (SRF), the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), and the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).

“Over the past fifteen years, federal biodefense programs and agencies have spurred the creation of dozens of medical countermeasures, in partnership with industry, greatly improving our nation’s capacity to prepare and respond to the countless known and unknown chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats facing our nation. Timely reauthorization of federal biodefense legislation is critical to ensuring that these programs and agencies are able to continue fulfilling their vital public health and national security missions.

“I applaud Congresswomen Susan Brooks (R-IN) and Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA), as well as House leadership, for their tireless bipartisan cooperation in advancing this critical legislation. I urge the Senate to consider and pass this legislation at the earliest opportunity to ensure that our nation’s biodefense capabilities are not compromised.”
 

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