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IDSA weighs in on bill for pandemic preparedness funding
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The Infectious Diseases Society of America released a statement urging legislators to consider certain public health priorities as they reauthorize the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act, or PAHPA, which was first passed into law in 2006 to advance the country’s medical preparedness and response capabilities, according to HHS.
The first hearing on the PAHPA reauthorization was held by the Senate last week. Another hearing is scheduled for tomorrow. The bill is slated for reauthorization by the end of the fiscal year, according to Amanda J. Jezek, vice president of public policy and government relations for IDSA.
“This is a far-reaching and important bill that provides authorization for a lot of resources for state and local health departments, as well as communities, hospitals and other health care facilities, to prepare for and respond to a variety of public health emergencies — everything from bioterrorist attacks, health consequences of hurricanes and other natural disasters, emerging infectious diseases, pandemic influenza and antimicrobial resistance,” Jezek told Infectious Disease News. “In addition to providing those facility- and community-level resources, the bill also created the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which partners with companies to help develop medical countermeasures, including broad-spectrum antibiotics, diagnostics and vaccines.”
IDSA said the hearings offer a “valuable opportunity” for lawmakers to consider resources needed to address “emerging public health threats.” The organization stressed that there must be more incentives for pharmaceutical companies to develop new products because the existing supply of antimicrobials is “insufficient” to combat emerging antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. IDSA proposed that market entry rewards of $500 million or more (paid over a 5-year duration) be made available for each new antimicrobial developed.
“Such rewards should be reserved for antimicrobials that only address the most urgent unmet needs to treat resistant infections, and require commitments to antimicrobial stewardship and access agreements,” the IDSA statement said.
A research team led by the University of Geneva and AstraZeneca known as DRIVE-AB recently estimated that a market entry award of $1 billion per antibiotic is needed to significantly increase the number of new treatments over the next few decades.
“Our simulations predict that introducing market entry rewards could potentially help to bring to market a total of 16 to 20 new truly innovative antibiotics in the next 30 years,” Francesco Ciabuschi, PhD, DRIVE-AB partner and professor at Uppsala University, said in a press release. “Without incentives, some scientifically promising treatments would probably never make it to patients.”
There is also a need to address a decline in the proportion of students filling ID fellowship programs in the United States. Recent data have shown that, since 2013, the yearly proportion of ID programs participating in the National Resident Matching Program that were filled has ranged between roughly 42% and 66% — levels well below those seen just 10 years ago. Because compensation is one of the main reasons that prevent students from pursuing a career in ID, IDSA said the PAHPA reauthorization should offer new loan repayment opportunities to “lessen the economic disincentives.” Loan repayments, IDSA added, should specifically be made available to CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service officers who respond to public health emergencies.
IDSA also called for the establishment of a rapid response fund for public health threats such as outbreaks — although not at the expense of other public health programs — as well as a Global Health Security Agenda to prevent, detect and respond to outbreaks in other countries.
“In an increasingly interconnected world, an emerging public health threat anywhere poses a potential threat everywhere,” the statement said. “Halting outbreaks where they begin is one of the most effective ways to protect Americans. We urge legislators to remember that as they reauthorize PAHPA.” – by Stephanie Viguers
Disclosure: Jezek reports no relevant financial disclosures.
Reference:
DRIVE-AB. Revitalizing the antibiotic pipeline. 2018. http://drive-ab.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/DRIVE-AB-Final-Report-Jan2018.pdf. Accessed Jan. 24, 2018.