The historic 21st Century Cures Act, written into law last December, is a 362-page bill comprised of several initiatives impacting the life sciences industry. The allocation of $4.8 billion for the “Cancer Moonshot” portion of the bill won over most headlines during news cycles leading up to the bill’s signing, but several other sections will impact the clinical research ecosystem over the next several years. An article published in this month’s volume of the Journal of Clinical Research Best Practices outlines the major sections of the Cures Act that affect clinical trials.
The aforementioned Cancer Moonshot leads the bill, creating a $4.8B “NIH Innovation Account” that will allocate funds to the Precision Medicine Initiative, BRAIN Initiative, Cancer, and Adult Stem Cells research. Another $500M will be set aside for an “FDA Innovation Account.” The Eureka Prize Competition section allocates prize money for significant advancements in biomedical sciences and/or improving health outcomes in serious yet disproportionate research areas. Three sections address confidentiality of personal health information for study participants: Privacy Protection for Human Research Subjects, Protection of Identifiable and Sensitive Information, and Data Sharing.
To support emerging scientists, the NIH will develop and prioritize policies that promote opportunities for new researchers. The NIH also addresses Educational loan repayment addresses by increasing repayments from $35k to $50k in exchange for research work in the areas of basic science, AIDS, and emerging needs. This section also instructs the NIH to prioritize research conducted by professionals from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Reducing administrative burden for researchers also makes up a large section of the bill. Within two years, HHS is to “harmonize and eliminate duplicative Conflict of Interest reporting… [and] examine the varying minimum thresholds, consider allowing for just in time reporting, and consider redefining which investigators and sub-investigators need to report.” Several sections address the patient experience during clinical trial studies. The FDA will create guidance explaining the use and requirement of patient experience data such as data collected by non-clinicians (e.g. patients, family, etc.), the impact of disease and therapy on patient lives, and patient treatment preferences.
The bill would not be complete without detailing the penalties for violation of grants, contracts, and other agreements created under the 21st Century Cures Act. The bill outlines fines from $10k-$50k for each false statement or omission in addition to $10k-$15k fines per day for delays in the transfer of funds to HHS.
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