In signing into law the 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 34) President Obama noted its important contribution to his agenda for science and technology, specifically the Cancer Moonshot, BRAIN, and Precision Medicine Initiatives.
The act allocates $4.8 billion over 10 years to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and will spur medical innovation, provide new funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), reform the country’s mental health system, provide money for opioid abuse treatment, and support mental health and other hospital and health care provisions. It also creates a Research Policy Board tasked with identifying a means of reducing administrative burdens.
MLA has long supported the 21st Century Cures Act, and is pleased to see that the new funding for NIH is intended to “supplement—not supplant—increases to the base NIH budget.”