[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 17 (Thursday, February 2, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S324-S326]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. MIKULSKI (for herself, Mr. Kerry, Ms. Collins, Mr. 
        Blumenthal, and Mr. Warner):
  S. 2069. A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to speed 
American innovation in research and drug development for the leading 
causes of death that are the most costly chronic conditions for our 
Nation, to save American families and the Federal and State governments 
money, and to help family caregivers; to the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I am proud to introduce the Spending 
Reductions Through Innovations in Therapies Agenda Act with my good 
friends and colleagues, Senators Collins, Kerry, Blumenthal, and 
Warner. This is a bi-partisan and bi-cameral bill that I have worked on 
with Representatives Markey and Smith and community organizations and 
leaders such as George and Trish Vradenburg's U.S. Against Alzheimer's. 
This legislation will help us sprint to the finish line by getting 
innovative therapies from bench to bedside more quickly for chronic 
diseases like Alzheimer's. It spurs innovation in advanced research and 
drug, device, and diagnostics development for chronic health conditions 
that are leading causes of death as well as the most costly to 
taxpayers and families.
  The act puts the focus where it needs to be. It tackles the health 
problems we are challenged with today and will be faced with in the 
future if there is inaction. We must conquer these complex health 
conditions and plug the drain that draws money from our nation's 
economy and patients, families, and taxpayers checkbooks.
  It is been over 10 years since a new Alzheimer's drug entered the 
U.S. market. Eleven industry sponsored clinical trials have failed in 
recent years. It takes 10 to 15 years to develop a drug and get the FDA 
gold seal of approval. Each drug that successfully enters the market, 
costs over $1 billion to develop. This is because of the high failure 
rates in the ``Valley of Death.''
  Currently, 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's and 15 million 
Americans are caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's. There are no 
drugs on the market today to delay-onset, prevent, or cure Alzheimer's. 
Medicare spending for Alzheimer's patients is 3 times higher than 
Medicare patients without Alzheimer's. Medicaid spending for 
Alzheimer's patients age 65 and older is 9 times higher. This is 
unsustainable. Families are left bewildered, bereft, and broke.
  I know what this is like. My own dear father was one of the 5 million 
Americans with Alzheimer's. I remember when I would go to visit him. It 
didn't matter that I was a United States Senator or the Senator who 
represents the National Institutes of Health. It didn't matter that I 
could get Nobel Prize winners on the phone. The information that would 
have made his life easier just wasn't there. My family and I knew about 
the long goodbye. We lived the 36-hour day. It was devastating for him, 
heart-breaking to my mother, and heart-wrenching for my sisters and me. 
What was difficult was not only the disease but that we also felt 
powerless. All we could do was make my father comfortable. There was no 
cure. There was no safety net for our family.
  I vowed to do everything I could. Not just to support research and 
development in Alzheimer's but also to create a safety net for 
families. I know it is gut-wrenching to wonder how you'll be able to 
care for a parent. I have always believed Honor thy mother and father' 
is a good commandment to live by and a good policy to govern by. We 
need innovative strategies like the SPRINT program to make sure your 
brain span lasts your life span.

[[Page S325]]

  SPRINT speeds the development of drugs and therapies to combat the 
most deadly and costly chronic diseases. It compresses the product 
development timeline and increases the volume of drugs in the 
development pipeline so that priority is given to the most promising 
drugs. This bill expedites the Food and Drug Administration review 
process. It helps get more drugs out of the labs and into patient's 
hands more quickly.
  This act establishes a new program--the SPRINT Program. SPRINT will 
develop new therapies to reduce federal health care spending on chronic 
health conditions like Alzheimer's, diabetes, heart disease and cancer 
that are the leading causes of death identified by the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, some researchers are already 
working hard to see if diabetes or heart diseases are associated with 
Alzheimer's. I have seen first-hand that many Alzheimer's patients have 
multiple chronic conditions.
  SPRINT directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to work 
collaboratively with non-profit investors to identify public and 
private organizations with expertise in developing therapies for these 
conditions like a biotech company or an academic health center such as 
University of Maryland or Johns Hopkins. Prize payments, contracts, 
grants, or cooperative agreements will be awarded to accelerate 
development of therapies that have potential to prevent or diagnose, 
delay onset or cure, and aid recovery or improve health outcomes for 
Alzheimer's disease and other high-cost conditions.
  This bill is built on a public-private partnership. We will make a 
$50 million Federal investment and leverage private capital by raising 
$2 in private investment for every Federal dollar to combat this 
problem together. For this small investment we will get huge returns in 
lives saved and new cures. By making a small investment today we will 
save billions in future health care spending and long-term care costs. 
Alzheimer's Association estimates that Alzheimer's alone costs our 
federal health programs, Medicare and Medicaid, over $183 billion 
annually.
  SPRINT is a job creator. Manufacturers in Maryland and other states 
are on the frontier of discovering new drugs and biologics. By helping 
patients find new treatments we can also make targeted investments in 
our innovation economy. Biotech companies are an economic engine in 
Maryland's economy. SPRINT helps America remain number one in 
biomedical innovation and job creation.
  I have a saying, ``each of us can make a difference and together we 
can make change''. I will keep fighting for a cure for Alzheimer's. I 
will keep fighting to support our innovative industries in their quest 
for new therapies and treatments that will help patients globally and 
create jobs domestically. And I will keep fighting to help families 
living with Alzheimer's. We are working together because a Congress 
that works together works the best. We will get this done. Some people 
want to go to Mars but I want to be in the United States of America 
when they say ``we found a cure for Alzheimer's.''
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, today I wish to, with my colleague from 
Maryland, introduce the Spending Reductions through Innovations in 
Therapies agenda, or SPRINT, Act, a bipartisan, bicameral bill to 
accelerate the development of treatments and therapies for high-cost 
diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.
  Alzheimer's and other chronic conditions take a tremendous personal 
and economic toll on millions of Americans and their families. 
Moreover, in addition to the human suffering they cause, they pose 
significant challenges to the fiscal health of our Nation.
  Alzheimer's disease alone costs the United States $183 billion a 
year, a figure that will only increase exponentially as the baby-boom 
generation ages. If nothing is done to slow or stop the disease, 
Alzheimer's will cost the United States $20 trillion over the next 40 
years.
  At a time of mounting deficits, the increasing incidence of diseases 
such as diabetes and Alzheimer's also has dire implications for our 
Federal budget. For example, it is estimated that spending on diabetes 
accounts for one out of three Medicare dollars. The average annual 
Medicare payment for an individual with Alzheimer's is three times 
higher than for those without the condition. For Medicaid, average 
payments for someone with Alzheimer's are nine times higher.
  The Federal Government is currently spending hundreds of billions of 
dollars a year caring for patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease, 
diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and other conditions. This pricetag 
will only increase as our population ages. Left unchecked, these 
devastating diseases threaten not only to destroy our Nation's health, 
but also to bankrupt our finances.
  The SPRINT Act, which we are introducing today, is intended to speed 
the development of therapies to significantly modify, cure, or prevent 
these high-cost, chronic conditions. Among other provisions, the bill 
authorizes $50 million for a public-private SPRINT program and fund 
within the Department of Health and Human Services to support advanced 
research into promising therapies that are most likely to improve 
health outcomes and reduce health care costs.
  Modeled after the successful Defense Advance Research Project Agency, 
DARPA, the SPRINT program and fund will complement the basic research 
done by the National Institutes of Health. It will work through public-
private partnerships to provide modest resources to research 
institutions and other innovators conducting advanced research into 
therapies and treatments for Alzheimer's and other high-cost chronic 
conditions.
  Funding provided under the bill will be targeted to chronic 
conditions designated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
as being among the top 10 causes of death and focused on those that 
account for high current and projected costs to Federal health 
programs; reduce a victim's ability to carry out activities of daily 
living; have a death rate that has increased and is projected to 
increase significantly in future years; and lack existing therapies to 
prevent, control, or cure the condition or delay cognitive decline.
  Each Federal dollar awarded under the program must be matched by at 
least $2 in private funding, and the Secretary may modify or terminate 
funding for projects that fail to meet milestones. Finally, the 
legislation will expedite review by the Food and Drug Administration of 
the therapies developed through the program so they can be delivered to 
patients as quickly as possible.
  Chronic diseases such as Alzheimer's, heart disease, diabetes, and 
cancer cause great suffering and financial hardship for millions of 
Americans and their families. Given their increasing prevalence as our 
population ages, they also threaten to bankrupt critically important 
programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
  The SPRINT Act will leverage a relatively small Federal investment to 
speed the development of therapies that have the potential to prevent, 
delay, cure, and improve outcomes for these terrible diseases. It also 
offers us an opportunity to control the costs associated with these 
devastating conditions. I urge my colleagues to join us in cosponsoring 
this important legislation. I ask unanimous consent that a letter from 
the Alzheimer's Association endorsing our legislation be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                          Alzheimer's Association,


                                         Public Policy Office,

                                 Washington, DC, January 31, 2012.
     Hon. Susan Collins,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Collins: On behalf of the Alzheimer's 
     Association, thank you for your leadership on issues 
     important to Americans with Alzheimer's disease and their 
     caregivers. As the co-chair of the Congressional Alzheimer's 
     Task Force you are well-aware of the national and global 
     epidemic that is Alzheimer's disease. This devastating 
     disease is the ultimate thief--a thief of memories, thief of 
     independence, thief of control, thief of time and ultimately, 
     a thief of life. The Alzheimer's Association is pleased to 
     support your bill, the Spending Reductions through 
     Innovations in Therapies Agenda Act of 2012 (SPRINT Act), 
     which would create a novel mechanism to target research 
     investments that development of new treatments and reduce 
     overall spending by Federal health care programs for high-
     cost chronic conditions, including Alzheimer's disease.
       The Alzheimer's Association is the world's leading 
     voluntary health organization in

[[Page S326]]

     Alzheimer's care, support and research. Our mission is to 
     eliminate Alzheimer's disease and other dementias through the 
     advancement of research, to provide and enhance care and 
     support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia 
     through the promotion of brain health. Our vision is a world 
     without Alzheimer's.
       In 2011, the cost of caring for those with Alzheimer's to 
     American society will total an estimated $183 billion, 
     according to Alzheimer's Association's 2011 Alzheimer's 
     Disease Facts and Figures report. This is an $11 billion 
     increase over last year--a rate of increase more than four 
     times inflation. According to the Alzheimer's Association 
     report, Changing the Trajectory of Alzheimer's Disease: A 
     National Imperative, unless a treatment is found that can 
     prevent cure, or even slow the progression, by 2050, as many 
     as 16 million Americans will have Alzheimer's disease and the 
     cost of care will surpass $1 trillion annually (in today's 
     dollars). This will create an enormous strain on the health 
     care system, families and the federal budget.
       The SPRINT Act aims to speed American innovation in 
     research and drug development for the leading causes of death 
     that are the most costly chronic conditions for our Nation, 
     which includes Alzheimer's disease. The legislation 
     highlights the growing need for research and the importance 
     of finding innovative ways to find a cure for Alzheimer's on 
     behalf of the estimated 5.4 million Americans currently 
     living with the disease.
       The Alzheimer's Association appreciates your continued 
     leadership on Alzheimer's disease. If you have any questions, 
     please contact Rachel Conant, Director of Federal Affairs, at 
     Rachel.C[email protected] or 202-638-7121.
           Sincerely,
                                                      Robert Egge,
     Vice President, Public Policy.

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