BIO opposes Brat Amendment to make mandatory NIH funding discretionary

The US trade group Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) has issued a statement expressing its opposition to an amendment to the 21st Century Cures Initiative legislation filed by Representative Dave Brat (Republican, Virginia) that would convert the mandatory funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to discretionary spending.

Jim Greenwood, president and chief executive of BIO, said: “BIO supports the provisions in 21st Century Cures to provide mandatory funding for the nation’s biomedical research enterprise by supporting consistent and dependable growth in NIH funding. The NIH is the nation’s premier biomedical research agency. The work it conducts and supports provides a critical foundation for further biomedical investment and innovation in both the public and private sectors.”

He continued: “NIH funding over the past decade has failed to keep pace with biomedical research inflation and, as a result, the success rate of meritorious research proposals has fallen dramatically, which has a long-lasting impact on the development of breakthrough treatments and cures for patients suffering from life-threatening and debilitating disease.”

Success rate of research proposals down to one in ten