NC Lawmakers Introduce New Bill on Vaccine Development

Statement

U.S. Reps. Renee Ellmers and G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina introduced a bill on Friday that would streamline the approval process for vaccines.

"As North Carolina is a clear leader in the biopharmaceutical industry, and accounts for over 9,000 jobs in the Raleigh-Durham area alone, Congressman Butterfield and I are excited to be paving the way in this field," Ellmers said.

"This timely, bipartisan legislation will ensure a smoother and more-efficient approval process for discovering, developing and delivering vaccines so that we can better protect public health," Ellmers, a former nurse, added in a statement. "Given the recent outbreak of measles, it's clear that this legislation is necessary to safeguard public health."

Among other things, the legislation would make the process used by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to evaluate vaccines and make recommendations more transparent and consistent, according to a news release from Ellmers.

The legislation is part of bills in the House Energy and Commerce Committee's 21st Century Cures Initiative. Both Butterfield, a Democrat from Wilson, and Ellmers, a Republican from Dunn, are members of the committee.

The Biotechnology Industry Organization said in a statement that the bill would "modernize the discovery, development, and delivery of vaccines."

"As much progress as vaccines have enabled us to make, much more work remains to be done. New vaccines are still needed in many areas, including against global infectious diseases like TB, malaria and HIV, emerging infectious diseases like Ebola and Marburg, and against methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other antibiotic-resistant infectious agents, BIO president and CEO Jim Greenwood said in a statement.

He said the bill would "substantially stimulate new vaccine research and improve patient access to existing vaccines, enhancing their public health impact."

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