WASHINGTON, DC - Continuing the Energy and Commerce Committee’s efforts to combat the Zika virus, the House of Representatives today passed S. 2512, the Adding Zika Virus to the FDA Priority Review Voucher Program Act. The legislation will add the virus to the list of tropical diseases under the program. It will award a voucher to the sponsor of a new drug or biological product that is approved to prevent or treat a tropical disease. The bill, which builds upon the committee’s bipartisan #RecordOfSuccess, now heads to the president’s desk as S. 2512 passed the Senate by unanimous consent in mid-March.
“As we approach the summer months, the threat of the Zika virus is real and we must do all we can to ensure we’re prepared. This bill is a step in the right direction," said Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI). “There’s still a lot we just don’t know about Zika, which makes research and development of vaccines and potential treatments all the more critical."
Bipartisan committee leaders requested briefings in early February on the Zika virus from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Last month, following an Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing on the Zika virus, committee leaders pressed HHS on the administration’s Zika response and the lack of sufficient diagnostic testing. The committee will continue its work to combat the epidemic.
