The U.S. Senate health committee said Tuesday it will not take up the 21st Century Cures bill and will instead consider at least seven companion bills over three executive sessions.
"Senators and staff on our committee have been working together throughout 2015 to produce a number of bipartisan pieces of legislation that are ready for the full committee to consider," Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said in a statement. "The House has completed its work on the 21st Century Cures Act. The president has announced his support for a precision medicine initiative and a cancer 'moonshot.' It is urgent that the Senate finish its work and turn into law these ideas that will help virtually every American."
However, according to coverage by The Hill this move is a blow to members of the lower chamber. The House passed the 21st Century Cures bill in July after working for more than a year on a final package. It contains amendments to revise the drug approval process, extends funding to the National Institutes of Health for $8.75 billion over the next five years and boosts U.S. Food and Drug Administration funding $550 million over the next five years.
Though the bill passed overwhelmingly in the House, it has stalled in the Senate likely due to disagreements over funding, according to The Hill.
The Senate will hold the first committee meeting on the bills Feb. 9, followed by executive sessions on March 9 and April 6. The bills include President Barack Obama's precision medicine initiative, Vice President Joe Biden's "moonshot" initiative, FDA regulation of duodenoscopes and legislation to help achieve EHR interoperability.
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