Government Healthcare Policy, Business and Technology

Senate Panel Passes Biomedical Innovation Legislation

Homeland Security Today: The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Wednesday approved the Medical Countermeasure Innovation Act, S. 2055, which aims to improve the nation’s preparedness to counter biological threats, including smallpox and anthrax, as well as such naturally emerging disease threats as Zika and Ebola.

Introduced by Senators (Richard) Burr (R-NC) and (Bob) Casey (D-PA), the bipartisan legislation would accelerate the pace of medical countermeasures, including vaccines and medicines, for public health emergencies. Essentially, if a company develops a drug and it’s approved, they get a voucher they can keep or sell that will speed up the review of another drug.

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