Last year, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) along with Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) announced the launch of 21st Century Cures. It was an initiative aimed at speeding up the pace of cures and medical breakthroughs in the United States by making sure that our laws are keeping pace with innovation.

At that time, Chairman Upton said it was the first time ever that they in Congress have decided to take a comprehensive look at what steps they could take to accelerate the pace of cures in America.

Chairman Upton said, “We are looking at the full arc of this process—from the discovery of clues in basic science, to streamlining the drug and device development process, to unleashing the power of digital medicine and social media at the treatment delivery phase”.

Last year, the Committee has held eight hearings, issued some white papers, and hosted over two-dozen roundtables across the country to generate ideas for this initiative.

The initial discussion draft was initially released in January. It was the product of months of dialogue between members of Congress, patients, innovators, researchers, providers, consumers, and regulators.

Yesterday, a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee have marked-up a revised 21st Century Cures Act and have given the approval to the measure unanimously. A full Committee markup of the bill is going to take place in coming week.

During this open and inclusive process of developing the 21st Century Cures Act, the American Association for Cancer Research was engaged with committee members and staff throughout the last year.

They were working together to make sure that the proposal advanced basic, translational and clinical research, while recognizing the critical importance of maintaining both the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration as national priorities.

The AACR has appreciated the Committee’s willingness to revise and improve the bill on the basis of the suggestions and ideas it has received from the medical research community.