CEO of Research!America discusses reemergence of support for medical innovation

An article published on the LillyPad blog yesterday focused on the reemergence of bipartisanship support for medical innovation.

Author, CEO and President of Research!America, Mary Woolley, cites the 21st Century Cures discussed draft as one of multiple recent initiatives that aim at removing barriers to innovation and strengthening the research structure in order to fight health threats that claim millions of lives.

Twenty-first Century Cures, led by Reps. Fred Upton (R-MI) and Diana DeGette (D-CO), recognizes that discovery, development and delivery are all connected and need to work together in order to guarantee that medical breakthroughs reach completion, Woolley writes.

The initiative seeks to modernize clinical trials, incorporate patients’ perspectives in the regulatory process, reduce administrative burden on researcher, foster data sharing, create new incentives to encourage research and development for unmet medical needs and explore strategies to quicken the pace in which new medical devices reach patients.

“Research!America’s priority is to ensure that policies are aligned behind the goal of increasing the volume and pace of U.S. medical innovation and that additional resources are allocated to federal health agencies to help carry out tasks and responsibilities included in final legislation,” Woolley said. “We hope the 21st Century Cures initiative signals the reemergence of bipartisanship for medical innovation in Washington to ensure that an increasing number of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s, cancer, and other diseases, known and unknown, benefit from scientific research from bench to bedside.”