[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 50 (Tuesday, May 2, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S3900]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BROWNBACK (for himself and Mr. Lieberman):
  S. 2699. A bill to promote the research and development of drugs 
related to neglected and tropical diseases, and for other purposes; to 
the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, today I introduced with my colleague, 
Senator Lieberman, the Elimination of Neglected Diseases Act of 2006. 
This legislation is designed to confront and combat a group of 
dangerous parasitic diseases that together claim more than 500,000 
lives each year and adversely affect millions more. These 13-15 
neglected tropical diseases, NTD, as they are called, are the most 
common infections in the developing world, and include such 
debilitating diseases as leprosy, guinea worm, and trachoma. Many are 
described in the Bible, exposing the sad fact that humans have been 
suffering from these diseases for millennia. Moreover, research has 
shown alarming rates of comorbidity of NTD's with HIV/AIDS, 
tuberculosis, and malaria, resulting in severe complications with these 
already devastating diseases.
  The biggest challenge to finding cures for these diseases is the lack 
of a market. Pharmaceuticals are expensive to develop, and since 
neglected diseases disproportionately affect poor and marginalized 
populations in the developing world, there are fewer incentives for 
conducting research and development for new treatments. The purpose of 
this act is to encourage drug development by creating market incentives 
for investment in new research. Specifically, the bill awards a limited 
patent-term extension or patent-term restoration for certain lifestyle 
and tropical disease drugs provided the company successfully develops a 
new FDA-approved drug for an NTD. In this way, a drug company can 
recoup costs for the large investment in NTD research and development.
  With the exception of market incentives, we have all the right 
ingredients to develop new drugs that would dramatically reduce the 
number of NTD cases and improve the quality of human life worldwide. I 
strongly believe that this legislation will add the last remaining step 
to jumpstart competitive research and development for combating NTD's. 
I urge my colleagues to join in this effort by supporting this bill.

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