Republican senator pushes biotech funding

Reuters, Sat Apr 25, 8:04 am ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090425/...pKv0OLwcYQ.3QA

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Senate Republican who could prove a swing vote in the U.S. healthcare debate said on Saturday he wanted a new agency to help struggling biotech companies as part of a future healthcare system.

Senator Arlen Specter said the new agency could be important as Democrats push a health plan that aims to rein in soaring costs and to provide health coverage for an estimated 46 million uninsured Americans.

"I believe that we can live not only longer lives, but healthier lives, by harnessing and applying the genius of our biomedical research community and getting about the task of accelerating cures," Specter said in remarks prepared for a Chicago speech to physicians and researchers.

Specter, who has survived two bouts of cancer, proposed a new agency known as the Cures Acceleration Network that would award grants to cash-strapped biotech companies to help them develop new treatments.

He said these companies are having difficulty tapping into private capital and a number have cut or put on hold important drug development programs that could provide new treatments for cancer, multiple sclerosis, diabetes and other diseases.

"Without adequate funding, these companies will be unable to take these products to the development state, the basic research done by the NIH (National Institutes of Health) will be lost, and many patients will die waiting for drugs and devices to give them a better quality of life," Specter said..



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