Letter to Hal Rogers, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee - A Call for Funding of Bio-Defense Agency Amid Ebola Outbreak

Letter

In a bipartisan letter to Congressional appropriators, Reps. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) called for additional funding for BARDA, the Biomedical Advance Research and Development Authority, and related bio-defense programs amid the ongoing Ebola epidemic.

Eshoo and Rogers wrote: "BARDA is now leading the federal government's efforts to develop vaccines and therapeutics against Ebola. While ongoing programs at the National Institutes of Health are essential for early-stage Ebola research, only BARDA has the infrastructure to actually get a vaccine or drug prepared for use in this outbreak."

Authors of a 2006 law to create BARDA, Eshoo and Rogers cite stagnant funding for this critical government agency and related bio-defense programs.

A copy of the letter can be viewed here.

The following is the text of the letter:

October 24, 2014

The Honorable Hal Rogers, Chairman
House Committee on Appropriations
H-305, The Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Nita Lowey, Ranking Member
House Committee on Appropriations
1016 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Jack Kingston, Chairman
Subcommittee on Labor, HHS
House Committee on Appropriations
2358-B Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Rosa DeLauro, Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Labor, HHS
House Committee on Appropriations
1016 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Chairmen Rogers and Kingston and Ranking Members Lowey and DeLauro,

As you consider additional funding requests from the Administration related to the ongoing Ebola epidemic, we write to bring your attention to the importance of the Biomedical Advance Research and Development Authority (BARDA). Congress must provide BARDA the resources it needs to ensure vaccines and therapeutics can be delivered to Ebola patients as soon as possible.

In 2006 we authored bipartisan legislation to create BARDA for the purpose of accelerating development of medical countermeasures (MCMs) against biological threats. The agency was reauthorized by Congress last year in the Pandemic and All-Hazard's Preparedness Reauthorization Act (P.L. 113-5). In doing so, Congress recognized that many of the MCMs needed to protect the American people do not yet exist and their development is a risky, expensive, and lengthy process. Because there is no commercial market for MCMs, Congress also established the Project BioShield Special Reserve Fund which is responsible for procuring these countermeasures for stockpiling.

Funding from BARDA helps MCM developers bridge the so-called "valley of death" which occurs during late stages of the countermeasure development process. BARDA also has unique fast-track contracting authority which helps promising drugs move faster from clinical trials to production. We are proud to say we now have millions of countermeasures safely stockpiled thanks to this agency's successful partnership with the private sector.

As you know, BARDA is now leading the federal government's efforts to develop vaccines and therapeutics against Ebola. While on-going programs at the National Institutes of Health are essential for early-stage Ebola research, only BARDA has the infrastructure to actually get a vaccine or drug prepared for use in this outbreak. Clearly, the successful development of a countermeasure against Ebola is the best way to ensure we can stem the tragic tide of this historic epidemic.

Thanks to your leadership, Congress granted BARDA an additional $58 million to begin the development of promising Ebola vaccine and therapeutic candidates. But according to BARDA Director Robin Robinson's testimony before Congress on September 16th, BARDA will need additional funding to continue development and successfully scale-up the manufacturing of Ebola products that can quickly be delivered to patients.

The most effective way to deliver these critical resources is to fully fund the Project BioShield Special Reserve Fund (SRF). The SRF is the most effective tool for the federal government to attract private sector developers to the challenging task of countermeasure development. Without the promise of a government commitment to MCMs, developers in the private sector will abandon much of their work on these products.

The Pandemic and All-Hazard's Preparedness Reauthorization Act authorized $2.8 billion in funding for the SRF over five years (FY2014-FY2018). Unfortunately, the SRF has only received $255 million in appropriations to date -- just nine percent of its five-year authorization from Congress. At this pace, our ability to develop and procure MCMs for Ebola and the numerous other threats facing our nation will be quickly diminished.

We urge you to fully fund the SRF by appropriating in advance its remaining authorized funds ($2.45 billion). This action would have two immediate and long lasting effects. First, it would ensure BARDA has every resource necessary to quickly develop Ebola products. Secondly, it would reinvigorate the U.S. biodefense market to ensure that we are not caught flat-footed again during the next outbreak, pandemic, or bioterror event.

As you begin work on either an emergency supplemental or the next Fiscal Year 2015 Appropriations package, we urge you to provide additional funding for BARDA and the SRF. Thank you for your consideration of this urgent issue.

Sincerely,

Mike Rogers Anna G. Eshoo

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