NCCS Responds to 21st Century Cures Initiative Call to Action
The United States House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee released a Call to Action and announced the 21st Century Cures initiative to analyze the discovery, development, and delivery of cures and propose policy solutions. Over the course of the initiative, which officially launched on June 1, 2014, the committee will issue a series of white papers seeking input and soliciting ideas on how Congress can help accelerate promising new treatments to patients through three core objectives–discovery, development, and delivery.
In response to the call to action, NCCS submitted comments and recommendations focused on developing cures while enhancing care, utilizing the achievements of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Drug Products within the FDA as a model for other review offices, and rewarding innovation while ensuring access to new therapies. The 21st Century Cures effort provides an important opportunity to reflect on significant recent advances in cancer treatment and to assess barriers to development of new cancer treatments and failures in providing care for those who live with cancer as a chronic disease. In addition to NCCS’s comments, approximately 60 additional organizations have responded to the call to action and these comments can be found on the 21st Century Cures website. NCCS will continue to monitor the work of the initiative and will submit comments and recommendations as appropriate.
