Congress Tackles #1 Disease Killer of Children

WASHINGTON, July 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The game-changing bill that addresses the number one disease killer of children, Research to Accelerate Cures and Equity for Children Act (RACE for Children Act), has been introduced in Congress today. Kids v Cancer, a pediatric cancer advocacy organization who authored the bill, applauds sponsors of the bill Senator Michael Bennet, Senator Marco Rubio, Representative Michael McCaul, Representative G.K. Butterfield, Representative Chris Van Hollen, and Representative Sean Duffy.

Cancer drug development has entered an exciting phase, with each day producing a new understanding of molecular targets. However, kids with cancer cannot get access to the most promising, novel unapproved drugs.

The RACE for Children Act would enable children with cancer to have access to clinical trials of the most promising cancer drugs with molecular targets.

Unlike most Congressional bills, the RACE for Children is not a new program: it is merely an update of the Pediatric Research Equity Act (PREA) so that the law catches up with the science. 

PREA requires companies developing drugs for adults to also develop them for children. Contrary to Congressional intent, PREA has never applied to cancer because children's cancers occur in different organs than do adult cancers. The RACE for Children Act would authorize the FDA to require PREA pediatric studies when a molecular target of an adult cancer drug is relevant to a children's cancer. The RACE for Children Act would end the orphan exemption for PREA studies that applied to every newly approved cancer drug over the past three years.

Nancy Goodman, Founder and Executive Director of Kids v Cancer, noted, "When my 10 year old son, Jacob, was in treatment for a pediatric brain cancer, I was amazed to learn that although there were many exciting brain cancer drug trials that could possibly help Jacob, these drugs were not available to children.  Instead, Jacob received drugs that were 40 years old. The RACE for Children Act will help solve this problem and begin a new era of treatments for children fighting for their lives"

The RACE for Children Act could give a child one more birthday.

The bill is supported by the Coalition for Pediatric Medical Research, Children's Hospital Colorado, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Georgia Regents Health System, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Nemours Children's Health System, NYU Langone Medical Center, Rady Children's Hospital – San Diego, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Texas Children's Hospital, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and more than 100 pediatric cancer advocacy organizations.

Learn more at www.kidsvcancer.org

Kids v Cancer is a 501(c)(3) organization focused on changing the landscape of pediatric cancer research so that cures for children come at least as soon as cures for adults.

SOURCE Kids v Cancer

Related Links

http://www.kidsvcancer.org