[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 5 (Monday, January 31, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S144-S146]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NATIONAL BIOTECHNOLOGY MONTH
Mr. HATCH. Madam President, as we come to the end of the first month
of the new millennium, I want to make a few remarks about the great
promise of biotechnology in benefitting the American public. In fact,
January 2000 has been very appropriately designated as Biotechnology
Month.
In my view, this first century of the new millennium will be
remembered by historians for revolutionary advances in biomedical
research. It is fitting that in the next few months scientists will
complete the mapping of the human genome--the basic blueprint of the
structure of human beings. This event ranks very high in the
technological achievements of mankind.
It is also noteworthy that this task required the confluence of some
of the best minds in the medical sciences and computer technology.
Frankly, the mapping of the human genome simply would not have been
possible at this time absent the development of the low-cost, high-
speed computers that have been available to scientists in recent years.
Over the next few decades perhaps no more valuable cargo will travel
down the information highway of the Internet than the gene maps.
This new knowledge will not sit idly in digital databases. For once
the detailed genetic structure is known and accessible, researchers
will be better able to understand the function of individual genes and
complex interactions among collections of genes. Once both structure
and function are ascertained, diagnostic tools, therapeutic agents and
preventives such as vaccines can be more easily developed. It is the
American public who stands to benefit most from this new knowledge and
products.
It would be difficult to underestimate the effect that biotechnology
will have on health care delivery and, more to the point, on the health
status of the American public and our neighbors throughout the world.
In the area of cancer, for example, we are positioned to make
substantial gains in knowledge that will make traditional treatments
obsolete. I am pleased that the University of Utah and Myriad Genetics,
a small Salt Lake City biotech firm, are at the forefront of the battle
against breast cancer. Their work on the BRCA-I gene has contributed
substantially to our understanding of how this terrible disease is
triggered genetically. All of us wish success to these Utah scientists
and their colleagues throughout the world in their efforts to curtail
breast cancer.
Advances in biotechnology will also emanate from the medical device
industry. For example, Paradigm Medical Industries, another Salt Lake
City firm, is refining existing laser technology in order to develop a
new ``cold'' laser that promises to reduce the adverse reactions rate
associated with cataract surgery. While I may not be expert in all the
scientific underpinnings of this new photon phacoemulsification system,
I can say that since over 3 million cataract procedures are performed
annually it is in the interest of the public to cut down on the current
corneal burn rate of about 1,000 per day.
As a representative of the people of Utah, I am proud to report that
my state is home to over 120 companies in the biosciences. These firms
employ over 11,000 Utahns and an additional 2,500 individuals outside
of Utah. Total annual revenues of these Utah bioscience firms is in
excess of $1.6 billion. The aggregate estimated market value of these
firms exceeds $8 billion.
The success of Utah in the exciting arena of biotechnology has been
facilitated by the efforts the Utah Life Science Association--ULSA--and
the State of Utah's Division of Business and Economic Development. I
must commend the leadership of Governor Leavitt and Brian Moss of ULSA
for their tireless efforts to promote the expansion of Utah's
biotechnology sector.
Utah is certainly not alone in its activity in biotechnology.
Nationally, there are over 1300 biotech companies. Collectively, these
firms employ over 150,000 people. The biotechnology industry accounts
for over $10 billion in research and discovery activities annually and
revenues of over $18 billion.
Frankly, despite this impressive record of success, we have only
scratched the surface of the future promise of this industry. About 90
biotechnology products have been approved by the Food and Drug
Administration. More telling of the growing strength of this industry
is the fact that over 350 biotechnology products are in late stage
clinical trials. As these products move to the FDA approval stage, it
seems foreseeable that in the next few years this research intensive
sector, which recorded a net loss of $5 billion in 1998, will move into
and stay in the black.
As Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and as a Senator with a long
time interest in health care, I can assure my colleagues that I will do
all in my power to ensure that our intellectual property laws are
structured in a way to help assure that the promising work in
biotechnology laboratories can be delivered to the bedside of American
patients in a fair and expeditious manner. To meet the goal of
delivering new therapies to the patients, we must also work to ensure
that the FDA regulatory system promptly and consistently renders
judgments based on science and that the laws affecting international
trade do not result in unnecessary barriers to delivering these new
breakthroughs worldwide.
In closing, I think it only fitting that the Senate has taken special
note of the almost limitless frontier of biotechnology at the dawn of a
new century and new millennium.
Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, I rise today in commemoration of
January 2000, as National Biotechnology Month. In November, the Senate
passed a resolution designating January 2000 as National Biotechnology
Month.
Biotechnology is changing the face of medicine. The United States
leads the world in biotechnology innovation. Approximately 1,300
biotech companies in this country employ more than 150,000 people.
Biotech companies are on the cutting edge--working to develop
innovative life-saving drugs and vaccines. The industry spent nearly
$10 billion on research and development in 1998 while revenues totaled
$18.4 billion. Product sales topped $13 billion. The industry recorded
a net loss of $5 billion.
I'm proud that Maryland is home to over 200 biotechnology companies.
Companies in Maryland are working to map the human genome and develop
drugs to treat Alzheimer's, Parkinson's Disease, and diabetes.
Biotechnology has grown in Maryland, in part because Maryland is a
place for great medical innovations. Maryland is home to the ``golden
triangle''--private sector biotech companies, federal research
laboratories, and universities. Maryland houses the National Institutes
of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), other federal
labs, outstanding academic research institutions such as Johns Hopkins
University and the University of Maryland, and a growing number of
biotech companies. The combination of these public and private sector
entities creates a unique environment for research and new ideas to
flourish.
Biotech companies will likely have an increasingly important role in
providing medicines in the 21st century. The number of biotechnology
drug approvals is increasing. More than 350 biotechnology medicines are
already in late-stage clinical trials for heart ailments, cancer, and
neurological diseases and infections. Some of these drugs will likely
lead the way to improved health and well-being for millions of
Americans. I salute the biotechnology companies in Maryland and across
the country as they work to improve the lives of patients everywhere.
Mr. CRAIG. Madam President, I rise today on behalf of myself and my
colleague Senator Harry Reid, and Senators Ashcroft, Bennett, Breaux,
Crapo, Grassley, Murray, Roberts, Robb, and Sarbanes to recognize
January 2000 as National Biotechnology Month.
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It is fitting that in the first month of this new year, at the start
of a new century, we look to biotechnology as our greatest hope for the
future.
Mapping the human genome, for example, is ahead of schedule and
nearly complete. That achievement, begun 10 years ago, will rank as one
of the most significant advances in health care by accelerating the
biotechnology industry's discovery of new therapies and cures for our
most life-threatening diseases.
Biotechnology not only is using genetic research to create new
medicines, but also to improve agriculture, industrial manufacturing
and environmental management.
The United States leads the world in biotechnology innovation. There
are approximately 1,300 biotech companies in the United States,
employing more than 150,000 people. The industry spent nearly $10
billion on research and development in 1998. Although revenues totaled
$18.4 billion, the industry recorded a net loss of $5 billion because
of the expensive nature of drug development.
In 1999, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved more
than 20 biotechnology drugs, vaccines and new indications for existing
medicines, pushing the number of marketed biotech drugs and vaccines to
more than 90. Total FDA biotech approvals from 1982 through 1999 reach
more than 140 when adding clearances for new indications of existing
medicines. The vast majority of new biotech drugs were approved in the
second half of the 1990s, demonstrating the biotechnology industry's
surging proficiency at finding new medicines to treat our most life-
threatening illnesses.
Biotechnology is revolutionizing every facet of medicine from
diagnosis to treatment of all diseases. It is detailing life at the
molecular level and someday will take much of the guesswork out of
disease management and treatment. The implications for health care are
as great as any milestone in medical history. We expect to see great
strides early in this century.
A devastating disease that has stolen many of our loved ones,
neighbors and friends is cancer. Biotechnology already has made
significant strides in battling certain cancers. This is only the
beginning.
The first biotechnology cancer medicines have been used with surgery,
chemotherapy and radiation to enhance their effectiveness, lessen
adverse effects and reduce chances of cancer recurrence.
Newer biotech cancer drugs target the underlying molecular causes of
the disease. Biotech cancer treatments under development, such as
vaccines that prevent abnormal cell growth, may make traditional
treatments obsolete. In addition, gene therapy is being studied as a
way to battle cancer by starving tumor cells to death.
Many biotech drugs are designed to treat our most devastating and
intractable illnesses. In many cases these medicines are the first ever
therapies for those diseases. For example, advancements in research
have yielded first-of-a-kind drugs to treat multiple sclerosis and
rheumatoid arthritis as well as cancer.
Other medicines in clinical trials block the start of the molecular
cascade that triggers inflammation's tissue damaging effects in
numerous disease states. In diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's
and Huntington's, clinical trials are under way to test a variety of
cell therapies that generate healthy neurons to replace deteriorated
ones. Recent breakthroughs in stem cell research have prompted experts
to predict cures within 10 years for some diseases, such as Type I
(Juvenile) Diabetes and Parkinson's.
With more than 350 biotechnology medicines in late-stage clinical
trials for illnesses, such as heart ailments, cancer, neurological
diseases and infections, biotechnology innovation will be the
foundation not only for improving our health and quality of life, but
also lowering health care costs.
In the past 2 years Congress has increased funding for the National
Institutes of Health's basic research programs by 15 percent per year.
We are 40 percent of the way toward doubling the NIH budget. Health-
care research, however, is not one-sided. The public funds we provide
are for basic research. The private sector takes this basic science and
then spends many times more than what the government has contributed to
create new drugs and get them to patients. In today's world,
biotechnology companies are among the greatest innovators and risk
takers.
Biotechnology also is being used to improve agriculture, industrial
manufacturing and environmental management. In manufacturing, the
emphasis has shifted from the removal of toxic chemicals in production
waste streams to replacement of those pollutants with biological
processes that prevent the environment from being fouled. And because
these biological processes are derived from renewable sources they also
conserve a traditional energy resource. Industrial biotechnology
companies are the innovators commercializing clean technologies and
their progress is accelerating at an astonishing rate.
In agricultural biotechnology, crops on the market have been modified
to protect them from insect damage thus reducing pesticide use. Biotech
crops that are herbicide tolerant enable farmers to control weeds
without damaging the crops. This allows farmers flexibility in weed
management and promotes conservation tillage. Other biotech crops are
protected against viral disease with the plant equivalent of a vaccine.
The number of acres worldwide planted with biotech crops soared from
4.3 million in 1996 to 100 million in 1999, of which 81 million acres
were planted in the United States and Canada. Acceptance of these crops
by farmers is one indication of the benefits they have for reducing
farming costs and use of pesticides while increasing crop yields.
Biotech crops in development include foods that will offer increased
levels of nutrients and vitamins. Benefits range from helping
developing nations meet basic dietary requirements to creating disease-
fighting and health-promoting foods.
Biotechnology is improving the lives of those in the U.S. and abroad.
The designation of January 2000 as National Biotechnology Month is an
indication to our constituents and their children that Congress
recognizes the value and the promise of this technology. Biotechnology
is a big word that means hope.
Mr. HARKIN. Madam President, I am pleased to join my Senate
colleagues in recognizing January as National Biotechnology Month. At
the dawn of this new century, it is fitting for us to recognize the
promise and potential of biotechnology.
With the mapping of the human genome, we are on the brink of critical
advances in health care and medical discovery. These advances can
become new cures and new treatments, new industrial products, and
improved agricultural products. Biotechnology is changing medical
practice from the way diseases are diagnosed to the way they are
treated. By helping us to understand life at the molecular level,
biotechnology can help eliminate the guesswork of disease management
and treatment.
Biotechnology researchers have already made dramatic strides in
confronting some of our most devastating and tragic diseases, from
cancer to multiple sclerosis to Alzheimers. Recent breakthroughs in
human embryonic stem cell research have given us cause to predict cures
for diseases such as Parkinsons, juvenile diabetes and spinal cord
injury.
As Ranking Member of the Labor, Health and Human Services and
Education Appropriations subcommittee, I have been a long-time advocate
for health research. Last year, Arlen Specter and I took the lead in
providing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with a $2.3 billion
increase, the largest in NIH history, bringing the agency's overall
budget to $17.9 billion. This year, we plan to introduce a resolution
calling for a $2.7 billion increase--keeping our commitment to double
NIH funding over five years.
NIH provides funding for the basic science that underpins the
important research and development done by the biotechnology industry.
This strong public-private partnership has made our country the world
leader in the area of biotechnology innovation. There are approximately
1300 biotech companies in the United States, employing more than
150,000 people. In my own state of Iowa, we have approximately 180
companies, with more than
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10,000 employees. In 1999, the Food and Drug Administration approved 22
biotechnology drugs, vaccines and new indications for existing
medicines. We currently have more than 90 biotech drugs and vaccines on
the U.S. market. And I know this is only the beginning.
In addition to its medical applications, biotechnology offers many
exciting possibilities in the field of agriculture as well. Through
biotechnology scientists are already developing new varieties and
strains of plants and animals that will help to solve myriad problems
and challenges relating to agriculture. The results of advances in
agricultural biotechnology, impressive as they already are, represent
merely the infancy of this promising scientific field.
The fact that over 800 million of our fellow citizens on this planet
suffer from hunger or undernourishment points to the tremendous
challenge we face to produce enough food for an ever growing
population. As it has in the past, biotechnology will contribute
tremendously to meeting that challenge, through increased yields and
production, improved productive efficiency and enhanced suitability for
difficult environments. Developing new plant varieties that are more
tolerant of drought or soil salinity would help to increase food
production in areas of the world where people are now going hungry.
Biotechnology also promises to help solve environmental challenges in
agriculture. For example, plants that are inherently resistant to
diseases or insects reduce the amount of pesticides that would
otherwise be applied and enter the environment. Biotechnology can also
help to reduce the amount of tillage that is needed, thereby reducing
energy consumption and soil erosion.
Thus far biotechnology has been applied for the most part at the
level of the farm, and has not been perceived by consumers as directly
benefitting them to a significant degree. That is about to change. We
are already seeing the development of new strains of plants that have
specific traits to improve the nutritional quality of foods derived
from them. Work at Iowa State University, for example, has developed
soybeans that produce a soybean oil with lower saturated fat than
conventional soybeans. We are not far from having rice that contains
Vitamin A, which would alleviate a great deal of human suffering in
developing countries.
Perhaps the most fascinating area of biotechnology involves the
potential for developing new crops and livestock designed to produce a
variety of raw materials and substances, likely to be of high value,
for use in very specific applications, including medicine. We can
produce from plants everything we now rely on petroleum to produce:
energy and industrial raw materials for a wide range of products. I
believe there will be real economic opportunities for farmers in
producing these higher value crops and animals, and for rural
communities in processing them.
To be sure, if agricultural biotechnology is to meet its potential,
we must ensure that all questions about its safety for consumers and
for the environment are fully answered. I believe that those questions
can and will be answered satisfactorily, using the best sound science
available.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Madam President, as January 2000, National
Biotechnology Month, comes to a close, I want to recognize the
importance of the biotechnology to the nation and to commend this
industry for its innovations in disease diagnosis, treatment, and
prevention.
The United States is the leader in the biotechnology industry, and I
am proud to say that California has the nation's largest concentration
of health care technology companies. California, alone, is home to over
2,500 biomedical companies and employs over 241,000 people in health
care technology and biomedical and clinical research fields.
California's health care technology companies are producing leading
edge products, for example, the first new therapy for cystic fibrosis
in 30 years, Genetech; technology that enables doctors to do heart
surgery without opening the chest cavity, Heartport; a cancer drug that
is genetically engineered and stimulates the bone marrow to produce
important white blood cells, Amgen; linear accelerators for treating
cancer, Varian; and intraocular eye lenses, Allergan.
Biotechnology has enabled us to reduce hospital stays, to detect
cancer and other life-threatening illnesses earlier in order to begin
treatments earlier; to attack diseases cell by cell to eliminate
unnecessary side effects, and to use vaccines to prevent abnormal cell
growth. This is a critical time in biotechnology, as scientists
continue to make strides in cellular and genetic research, and I am
hopeful that this work will improve our health and well-being. I am
confident that as this industry continues to grow, we will see
treatments to greatly improve the lives of millions of Americans, and
we will see cures to illnesses that we did not think were possible.
I commend the more than 150,000 employees of the biotech industry
nationwide and join them in observing January as National Biotechnology
Month.
Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, I rise today in recognition of National
Biotechnology Month. Biotechnology has produced drugs that hold the
promise for many to live healthier lives. Biotechnology also holds
enormous promise to make even more profound contributions to public
health in the future.
For example, biotechnology strategies include the development of
cancer vaccines as well as drugs that target specific cancer antigens
to stimulate a patient's own immune system to kill tumor cells. There
are so many other diseases that devastate families, like Alzheimers and
heart disease, which biotechnology could be applied to successfully.
The Federal government has increased funding for basic scientific
research. Private sector investments and small business development
should also be encouraged. As remarkable as some of its achievement so
far, biotechnology is only beginning. It is appropriate to begin the
21st Century with National Biotechnology Month because biotechnology
holds so much promise for medicine and improving the quality of life.
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