Press Release from Kids v Cancer

Kids v Cancer Supports the “Creating Hope Act of 2010” S.3697

Washington, DC (August 4, 2010) – Kids v Cancer applauds Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Al Franken (D-MN) for their dedication to curing childhood diseases and supporting the “Creating Hope Act of 2010.”

The Creating Hope Act of 2010 will encourage the creation of new drugs for underserved children who suffer from serious and rare medical conditions, including life-threatening cancer, by providing a voucher to pharmaceutical companies who develop such drugs. This voucher would be used to expedite FDA approval for any other drug—including a blockbuster drug -- which would allow that drug to be delivered to market faster. The voucher would constitute a strong, market incentive for pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs for children with serous and rare diseases, such as cancer. The Act builds on the “FDA Amendments Act of 2007,” which established a voucher for drug development for neglected tropical diseases.

** Over the past 20 years, the FDA has approved only one new drug expressly developed for a pediatric cancer (vs. approving “hand-me-down” drugs developed for adult cancers).
** Still, 22 million children in the United States suffer from nearly 7,000 rare diseases (defined as having a prevalence of 200,000 or less). Of those 7,000 diseases, only 200 have drug treatments.



“A priority for Kids v Cancer is to incentivize pharmaceutical companies to develop treatments for children with cancer and other rare diseases,” said Nancy Goodman, Executive Director of Kids v Cancer. “This legislation will not cost the taxpayers anything and will create a significant incentive to companies only when they develop a drug for children with devastating diseases, including life-threatening cancer,” she continued.Ms. Goodman’s 10-year old son, Jacob, died of brain cancer in 2009

The “Creating Hope Act of 2010” will also add Chagas disease to the list of neglected tropical diseases and close a loophole in the 2007 FDA legislation that allowed pharmaceutical companies to receive vouchers for the introduction of existing drugs to the U.S. market.

KIDS V CANCER promotes pediatric cancer research by identifying structural impediments at key junctures in the research process— access to funding, tissue and drugs – and developing strategies to resolve them. Kids v Cancer seeks to improve the research infrastructure to increase the prospect that every promising idea is fully explored.

For more information on the “Creating Hope Act of 2010,” please visit www.kidsvcancer.org