News

Congress must pass the Give Kids a Chance Act without delay
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)
September 8, 2022
The Hill

…In 2017, Congress passed the RACE for Children Act, which Sen. Bennet [D-CO] and I wrote to streamline the approval of pediatric cancer drugs and require that single-drug therapy trials be applied to children as well as adults. According to the chair of the Children’s Oncology Group, it was a “huge…game-changer.” Our new bill [the Give Kids a Chance Act] builds off of that law’s success to help more children….
 
In combination therapy trials, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves patients’ advance access to innovative combinations of molecularly-targeted oncology drugs or biologics. It’s one of the primary ways in which doctors develop new, life-saving cancer treatments. But because of outdated red tape,…children suffering from pediatric cancers are stuck with less effective, single-drug treatments. 
 
There isn’t a good reason to deny children battling a horrible disease the care they need. Fortunately, we…can make even more progress by…expanding the RACE for Children Act’s pediatric study requirement to combination therapy trials. That is what our Give Kids a Chance Act would do. 
 
The Pediatric Oncology Section Head of Children’s Hospital Colorado confirms that our bill would “increase access to combinations of target cancer drugs” and bring new hope to “children and families who most need new treatment options.” Nor is that the only testimonial it has received. Dozens of hospitals, advocacy groups, and pediatric cancer research organizations have endorsed the Give Kids a Chance Act….
 
The House of Representatives has already incorporated a companion piece of legislation…into its version of the FDA user fee reauthorization bill. Now it’s time for the House and Senate to incorporate the Give Kids a Chance Act into the final reauthorization bill, before those fees expire at the end of September, and pass it as soon as possible….
 
Read the rest here.