Pascrell, Sherrill Lead Colleagues Demanding Additional Funding for COVID Therapies

Patients still lack access to reliable and effective treatments

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) and Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ-11), today led 21 House colleagues urging Appropriations leaders to provide additional funding for new COVID-19 therapies in the Fiscal Year 2022 package currently being crafted.

“Giving the American people access to new treatments is one of the federal government’s most critical missions during this phase of the COVID-19 response. HHS and ASPR must be prepared to quickly procure and distribute new treatments as soon as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issues an Emergency Use Authorization. This is the fastest way to ensure innovative new treatments are available for use by state and local public health partners,” the members write House Appropriations leaders.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), several new investigational COVID-19 therapies are completing clinical studies and could be authorized by FDA in the coming weeks and months. The members emphasized the importance of avoiding delays in the manufacturing and distribution of these new drugs at a time when patients and our health care system need them the most.

The letter is signed by Reps. Pascrell, Sherrill, Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-06), Dwight Evans (D-PA-03), G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-01), Albio Sires (D-NJ-08), Kim Schrier (D-WA-08), Ann McLane Kuster (D-NH-02), Dan Kildee (D-MI-05), John Larson (D-CT-01), Don Payne, Jr. (D-NJ-10), Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), Doris Matsui (D-CA-06), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-05), Donald Norcross (D-NJ-01), Terri Sewell (D-AL-07), Ron Kind (D-WI-03), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-03), Linda Sanchez (D-CA-38), Marc Veasey (D-TX-33), Darren Soto (D-FL-09), Suzan DelBene (D-WA-01), and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-20).

The text of the members’ letter is below.

March 2, 2022

The Honorable Rosa DeLauro                                               The Honorable Kay Granger

Chairwoman                                                                           Ranking Member

Committee on Appropriations                                                Committee on Appropriations

U.S. House of Representatives                                               U.S. House of Representatives

H-307 The Capitol                                                                  1036 Longworth HOB

Washington, DC 20515                                                          Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Tom Cole

Ranking Member

Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education

Committee on Appropriations

1036 Longworth HOB

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairwoman DeLauro, Ranking Member Granger, and Ranking Member Cole,

As you complete work on the Fiscal Year 2022 Omnibus Appropriations legislation and consider the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) emergency supplemental request, we urge you to provide additional funds for the procurement and distribution of new COVID-19 therapies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 940,000 Americans. Yet over two years after the pandemic began, patients in the United States and around the world still have limited access to effective treatments against COVID-19. Although widespread vaccinations have reduced transmission and saved countless lives, the U.S. is still experiencing more than 120,000 new cases, 8,000 hospitalizations, and 1,800 deaths every single day. This burden has strained our hospitals – and the essential health care workforce staffing our intensive care units – to their breaking point.

While the efforts of the federal government and private sector have yielded thirteen COVID-19 therapies deployed under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), patients still lack access to reliable and effective treatments that reduce hospitalizations and severity of infections. Unfortunately, several authorized treatments have also proven ineffective against the Omicron strain of COVID-19.

Clearly, HHS and the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) require robust resources to procure and distribute new COVID-19 therapies. Giving the American people access to new treatments is one of the federal government’s most critical missions during this phase of the COVID-19 response. HHS and ASPR must be prepared to quickly procure and distribute new treatments as soon as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issues an EUA. This is the fastest way to ensure innovative new treatments are available for use by state and local public health partners. We recognize the Committee’s proposed increase in funding for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in the pending Fiscal Year 2022 Omnibus Appropriations legislation and urge the Committee to consider increasing that funding level in Conference to ensure that the federal government has sufficient resources to fulfill its procurement needs.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and BARDA, several new investigational COVID-19 therapies are completing clinical studies and could be authorized by FDA in the coming weeks and months. We cannot risk delays in the manufacturing and distribution of these new drugs at a time when patients and our health care system need them the most.

We urge you to include additional funding in the Fiscal Year 2022 Omnibus Appropriations legislation for procurement and distribution of COVID-19 therapies. Rapid deployment of new, effective treatments will reduce the overwhelming burdens placed on our hospital systems and save American lives. Thank you for your attention to this critical matter.

Sincerely,