Hailed as medical innovation legislation, House Resolution 6, called the 21st Century Cures Act, had worked its way through multiple committee hearings garnering considerable bipartisan support since its introduction by Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) in 2015. Passed out of the House in July last year, H.R.6 is a bill aimed primarily at reforming current standards and appropriations for biomedical research. The legislation would provide $1.75 billion annually to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and $110 million to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with funding scheduled to conclude after a five-year period. Along with funding, the bill would simplify regulations on access to medical research and would expedite the testing processes of new drugs.
Talks and negotiations continue on both sides as passage of the Cures Act remains a priority for Republican leadership during the lame-duck session, and Democrats would gain funding to help push Vice President Joe Biden’s cancer “moonshot” project.