BIO Applauds Senate Passage of Advancing Hope Act

Washington, D.C. (September 23, 2016) – Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) President and CEO Jim Greenwood released the following statement today regarding Senate passage of the Advancing Hope Act of 2016:

“BIO applauds yesterday’s action by the Senate to pass the Advancing Hope Act of 2016, which would extend the Rare Pediatric Priority Review Voucher (PRV) Program – which was scheduled to expire on September 30^th – through the end of the year. The program is a critical incentive in promoting research into rare diseases affecting children, and has been a tremendous success since its enactment in 2012 – helping to spur the development and approval of six new therapies for seven rare diseases that previously lacked an FDA-approved therapy. We urge the House of Representatives to swiftly take up and pass this important legislation before the next Congressional recess.

“While action to extend the program through the end of the year is a welcome short-term step, a lengthier reauthorization is necessary if the program is to continue to promote research to benefit children with rare diseases. Drug development is a long, complex and expensive process, frequently requiring over a decade of research and clinical trials to move a potential medicine from the research lab to FDA approval. Drug companies plan their research programs over years and decades, not weeks and months. As such, it is important for an incentive such as the Rare Pediatric PRV to be reliably available in the long-term if it is to spur research into otherwise neglected disease areas. We hope that in the coming months, both Houses of Congress will find a solution for a long-term reauthorization of this critical program.

“We applaud Senators Casey and Isakson, as well as Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray, for their leadership in promoting medical research for children with rare and often devastating illnesses.”
 

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