New efforts to support the development of new cancer drugs for children would be launched under legislation reintroduced by U.S. Reps. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Sean Duffy (R-WI) and U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) on Wednesday.
The bipartisan, bicameral Research to Accelerate Cures and Equity for Children (RACE) Act would modernize the Pediatric Research Equity Act (PREA), which was enacted in 2003, to better reflect advancements made in cancer drugs.
“Researchers have made tremendous strides in fighting cancer in adults, using ‘molecular targeting’ to precisely attack cancer cells,” McCaul said. “However, current law does not reflect such advances in cancer drug development because these therapies have been under-studied in pediatric cancer.”
McCaul, the founder of the Childhood Cancer Caucus, said the RACE for Children Act would modernize current law to require pediatric studies for the most promising and innovative cancer treatments.
“I look forward to continuing the good fight with my colleagues and the advocacy community to give hope to the approximately 15,000 children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer each year,” he said.
Because childhood cancers surface in different organs than adult cancers, PREA does not apply to cancer and most pharmaceutical companies receive waivers for PREA obligations. Recent breakthroughs, however, indicate that childhood and adult cancers could share the same molecular targets.
“We’ve come a long way in the battle against childhood cancer, but we need the RACE for Children Act to beat this disease,” Duffy said. “Our laws must be brought into the 21st century so that our nation’s children can benefit from cutting-edge research and development.”
The current structure of PREA applies to specific indications or types of cancer, but the RACE Act would enable PREA to focus on a molecular target in specific types of adult cancer when the same molecular target emerges in a childhood cancer.
“The RACE for Children Act has the potential to increase access of life-saving cancer treatment and treatment for other serious illnesses for children by expanding pediatric studies,” Gardner said. “This bipartisan, commonsense legislation paves the way for scientific breakthroughs and has the potential to not only mitigate suffering for pediatric cancer patients, but also save lives.”
McCaul and Duffy reintroduced the RACE for Children Act in the House with U.S. Reps. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) and Yvette Clarke (D-NY). Gardner reintroduced the Senate bill with U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).