California Life Sciences Association (CLSA) Applauds Congressional Passage of the Advancing Hope Act

S. 1878 renews and extends the priority review voucher (PRV) program
for rare pediatric diseases

WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sara Radcliffe, President & CEO of the California
Life Sciences Association (CLSA), the premier statewide public
policy and business leadership organization representing California’s
leading life sciences innovators, issued the following statement
applauding the U.S. House of Representatives for approving S. 1878, the
Advancing Hope Act of 2016:

“California Life Sciences Association (CLSA) applauds the passage of S.
1878, the Advancing Hope Act of 2016, which unanimously passed the House
of Representatives this week. Congressional approval of this bill comes
at a critical time, as it will renew and extend through the end of this
year the rare pediatric disease priority review voucher (PRV) program,
ensuring the continuation of a program proven to incentivize and
accelerate innovation in new treatments and cures for rare diseases.

“This action by the House is a critical step in the right direction
toward fostering drug development for rare diseases in children, and
CLSA will continue to advocate for the extension of the program well
into the future to ensure innovators have a viable incentive to invest
in risky and challenging research and development efforts. We applaud
the legislation’s lead authors – in particular, Senators Bob Casey
(D-Penn.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Representatives G.K.
Butterfield (D-N.C.) and Michael McCaul (R-Texas) – and many cosponsors
for their commitment to ensuring the continuation of this program to
incentivize investment in the development of targeted therapies for
pediatric rare diseases, and urge President Obama to swiftly sign the
Advancing Hope Act into law.”

There are more than 7,000 distinct types of rare diseases and disorders
that directly affect 30 million people, most of them children.
Approximately 95 percent of rare diseases have no FDA-approved therapy.

The Senate passed S. 1878 on Sept. 22, 2016 and now goes to the
President’s desk for his signature.

Click
here to view the legislation

About California Life Sciences Association (CLSA)

California Life Sciences Association (CLSA) is the state’s largest and
most influential life sciences advocacy and business leadership
organization. With offices in Sacramento, San Diego, South San
Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington DC, CLSA works closely with
industry, government, academia and others to shape public policy,
improve access to innovative technologies and grow California’s life
sciences economy. CLSA serves biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical
device and diagnostics companies, research universities and institutes,
investors and service providers throughout the Golden State. CLSA was
founded in 2015 when the Bay Area Bioscience Association (BayBio) and
the California Healthcare Institute (CHI) merged. Visit CLSA at www.califesciences.org
and follow us on Twitter @CALifeSciences,
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Instagram,
LinkedIn
and YouTube.

Contacts

California Life Sciences Association (CLSA)
Will Zasadny
Associate
Director, Communications
619-961-8848
Wzasadny@califesciences.org