Congress Passes Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act Introduced by Reps. Matsui, Young

Press Release

Both chambers of Congress passed the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act this week, sending the legislation to the President's desk for his signature. The bipartisan bill will improve treatment options for individuals needing blood or marrow transplants by providing one, comprehensive access point to adult stem cell treatment options.

H.R. 6081 was introduced by Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Congressman C.W. Bill Young (R-FL) in August and recently passed without opposition by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The Senate counterpart, S. 3751, was introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) in the Senate where it was passed out of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee last week with unanimous support, and passed by the full Senate Tuesday by unanimous consent. S. 3751 was subsequently passed early Thursday morning by the House of Representatives by voice vote.

The companion bills had been finalized on a bicameral, bipartisan basis over the last several weeks to expedite passage of the bills and ensure that both houses passed identical language. As a result, the legislation is being sent to President Obama before certain provisions within the National Cord Blood Inventory were scheduled to expire today -- Thursday, September 30th.

"This legislation reauthorizes two vital programs that together provide one, comprehensive access point to adult stem cell treatment options," said Congresswoman Matsui. "For many patients, finding an acceptable adult stem cell donor match quickly and easily is a matter of life and death. I am pleased that both the House and the Senate have acted quickly to pass this legislation before the program's expiration on September 30th. It was critical that we made sure there was not a time lapse in providing patients with access to life-saving adult stem cell and bone marrow transplants."

The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act of 2010 reauthorizes the key programs responsible for helping these individuals by recruiting bone marrow, adult stem cell, and cord blood donations, matching donors and recipients, and linking patients to care. First, it reauthorizes the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program, which houses the National Registry, the Office of Patient Advocacy, and the Stem Cell Therapeutic Outcomes Database. Secondly, it reauthorizes the National Cord Blood Inventory (NCBI), a program that provides grants to public cord blood banks to assist them in collecting a diverse population of donated cord blood units, which are then listed on the National Registry.

The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act has been endorsed by the American Society of Bone Marrow Transplant, the Aplastic Anemia and MDS Society, the Colorado Cord Blood Bank, the Duke University Cord Blood Bank, the Inter Mountain Primary Children's Hospital, the Jeff Gordon Foundation, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Foundation, the LifeCord Cord Blood Bank, the National Marrow Donor Program, the New Jersey Cord Blood Bank, the New York Blood Center Cord Blood Bank, the Rhode Island Blood Center, the St. Louis Cord Blood Bank, the StemCyte International Cord Blood Bank, Villanova Football Head Coach Andy Talley, and the Yale University Hospital.