Congressman Andy Harris: "It's Time to Accelerate Medical Innovation"

Press Release

Today, Congressman Andy Harris, M.D. (MD-01) praised the passage of the "21st Century Cures Act," will take bold action to accelerate the discovery, development, and delivery of promising new treatments and cures for patients, as well as maintains our nation's standing as the biomedical innovation capital of the world. H.R. 6, which was strongly supported -- and partially written -- by Congressman Harris passed the House of Representatives 344 to 77.

"It's time to accelerate medical innovation and invest in the future of health care, and this bill does just that. Are there any American families that have not been affected by diseases like Alzheimer's, heart disease, or cancers? The passage of this important bill will open doors to curing these horrible diseases. We will find cures, we will save lives," said Dr. Harris.

Included in the bill are provisions drafted by the Congressman, and an amendment offered by both Congressman Todd Young (IN-09) and Dr. Harris. The provisions authored by Congressman Harris focus on more funding for young scientists during their peak age of discovery, increasing investments in high-risk high-reward projects, and increasing efficiency and accountability at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The language was drafted based on his own experience researching for the NIH, in addition to enormous input from physicians, scientists, patients, leading government agencies, and many other interested non-partisan parties.

Additionally, the amendment offered by Congressman Young and Congressman Harris establishes the Innovation Prize Program (I-Prize) to identify and fund areas of biomedical science that could lead to significant advances, through the creation of a prize competition. Historically, prize programs have been shown to leverage private sector funds to accomplish a difficult problem. An example includes the Ansari XPRIZE for Suborbital Spaceflight which was won in 2004 after more than 26 teams from seven nations invested over $100 million to win the $10 million prize.

"Thousands of chronic and deadly diseases, for which we have no treatments or cures, cost billions of dollars and claim millions of lives every year. This bill is our chance to invest in promising breakthroughs and real cures," added Dr. Harris.

The passage of HR 6, the 21st Century Cures Act, is a major success for the future of health care. It is fully offset in funding expenses, takes bold action to combat thousands of chronic and deadly diseases, and maintains our nation's standing as the biomedical innovation capital of the world.

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