U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) recently unveiled bipartisan legislation that would hasten the development of medical countermeasures (MCMs) to combat future pandemics.
“Our nation must be equipped and prepared to effectively respond to the next infectious disease outbreak,” Sen. Tillis said on July 10. “We must learn from the lessons — including failures — in our preparedness for and response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and our bipartisan legislation will provide the necessary resources and facilitate public-private partnerships to accelerate research and development of critical countermeasures.”
Sen. Tillis on June 21 introduced the Disease X Act of 2023, S. 2093, alongside bill sponsor U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) to establish a Disease X Medical Countermeasures Program at the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Currently, there is no sustained funding, program, or strategy dedicated to quickly developing MCMs for previously unidentified infectious disease threats with the greatest pandemic potential referred to as Disease X, according to a one-page bill summary provided by the lawmakers.
Specifically, S. 2093 would provide $40 million per year in funding for five years for Disease X MCMs and clarify how the HHS may award contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements, or enter into other transactions to promote the development of Disease X MCMs, states the summary.
The bill also would direct BARDA to accelerate and support the advanced research, development, and procurement of MCMs and products to address Disease X threats; and require products developed using funding from the Disease X Program to be substantially manufactured in the United States, the summary says.
The measure is supported by numerous entities, including the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Big Cities Health Coalition, FluGen Inc., US Biologic Inc., Vir Biotechnology, the Gerontological Society of America, and the Medical Countermeasures Coalition, among many other companies and individuals.