Congress Introduces RACE for Children Act to Support the Development of Promising Cancer Drugs for Children

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sarita Sastry, PhD
National Director, Research and Programs
(240) 235-2215 | research@curesearch.org
curesearch.org

Washington, DC – CureSearch thanks Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) along with Representatives Michael McCaul (R-TX-10), G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-01), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD-08), and Sean Duffy (R-Wy-07) as they introduce the RACE for Children Act to support the development of promising cancer drugs for children.

Pediatric cancer is the number one disease killer of children. However, kids with cancer cannot get access to the most promising, novel unapproved drugs.

The bipartisan, bicameral bill, 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 almost all 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. However, contrary to Congressional intent, PREA has never applied to cancer because children’s cancers occur in different organs than do adult cancers. But now that cancer drug development is by molecular target, the RACE for Children Act proposes that PREA apply by molecular target as well. In addition, the RACE for Children Act ends the current exemption from PREA obligations for drugs of cancers that occur in fewer than 200,000 patients in the U.S.

Laura Thrall, CEO of CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, noted, “While statistics now show that 83% of the almost 16,000 children diagnosed in the US each year ‘survive’ cancer, this does NOT necessarily mean that they are cured and go on to lead healthy lives. We are grateful for the RACE for Children Act, as it is a critical step forward in finding better treatments and cures so that children not only survive their cancers, but go on to live healthy, productive lives.”

The bill is also 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.

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CureSearch for Children’s Cancer

CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, a national nonprofit organization based in Bethesda, Md, works to end childhood cancer by driving targeted and innovative research with measurable results in an accelerated time frame. CureSearch is building a $10 million research pipeline to aggressively drive pediatric research grants and clinical trials that have a higher chance of becoming cures for children’s cancer without the toxic side effects that plague current treatment options.

For more information, visit curesearch.org, follow CureSearch on Twitter @curesearch or join the conversation on Facebook at www.facebook.com/curesearch.

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