Alexander punts 21st Century Cures funding to full Senate

U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said he is willing to consider creating an Innovation Projects Fund that would give the NIH director "authority and ability to harness extraordinary opportunities" for five high priority NIH initiatives. Alexander said discussion of how to pay for the Innovation Fund, including the use of mandatory funding, would need to occur on the Senate floor rather than in committee.

The comment came in prepared remarks ahead of a Tuesday hearing to mark up a set of seven bipartisan bills introduced as part of the Senate's companion legislation to the 21st Century Cures Act, which the House of Representatives passed last summer. The House bill included two mandatory five-year funds: an $8.8 billion NIH Innovation Fund and a $550 million FDA Cures Fund. Alexander did not mention an FDA innovation fund on Tuesday. His proposed NIH fund would cover a narrower range of activities than the one in the 21st Century Cures Act, and would likely receive less funding (see BioCentury Extra, July 10, 2015). ...