House Committee Approves Bill to Incentivize Medical Countermeasures

The House Energy & Commerce Committee has voted out a bill that would establish a new priority review program that would award a voucher to sponsors that develop a “material threat medical countermeasure” product. The voucher would entitle the holder to a priority review for a future NDA submission. The Strengthening Public Health Emergency Response Act of 2015 (H.R. 3299) would:

• Examine state and local preparedness efforts to examine how communities can be strengthened.
• Incentivize research to combat the next generation of deadly diseases, ensuring that private investment is available for cutting-edge research on medical countermeasures.
• Require post approval reports for medical countermeasure products to monitor the procurement process.
• Call for a GAO study examining the impact of the priority review voucher products and how it is improving our national preparedness.