MI Responds: 21st Century Cures Act

The House’s vote to pass the 21st Century Cures Act today is the culmination of nearly three years of bipartisan collaboration on how to best sustain and accelerate biomedical innovation in the U.S. This effort reached far beyond the Beltway and engaged everyone: patients with rare diseases, leading researchers at America’s best universities, industry experts, the FDA, and NIH. I applaud House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO), and Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) for their leadership and vision on behalf of America’s patients.

The Senate should embrace the same sense of urgency and possibility. The Cures bill does much to modernize America’s framework for evaluating new treatments and diagnostic tools created with cutting-edge science, and will allow the FDA to better meet its mandate for advancing and protecting the public health.  After the law is enacted and implemented, with continued congressional oversight and support, American patients will see more of the benefits of customized cures and the U.S. will extend its global leadership in the vital field of precision medicine.

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Paul Howard is a senior fellow and director of health policy at the Manhattan Institute. Follow him on Twitter here.