To support endemic fungal disease research, incentivize fungal vaccine development, discover new antifungal therapies and diagnostics, and for other purposes.
About This Bill
Committee
Latest Action · December 12, 2023
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
The FORWARD Act of 2023 is legislation designed to expand research and development efforts targeting fungal diseases in the United States, particularly Valley Fever (coccidioidomycosis) and other endemic fungal infections. The bill authorizes $20 million annually from 2024 through 2028 for the National Institutes of Health to conduct and fund research on fungal diseases, and it establishes a working group within the Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate fungal disease research efforts across federal agencies and recommend strategies for developing new treatments and vaccines. The legislation also expands a tropical disease program to offer incentives for drug developers to create treatments for coccidioidomycosis, and it creates a new $500 million Combating Antimicrobial Resistance Biopharmaceutical Accelerator Program over five years, requiring at least 20 percent of those funds to support development of antifungal drugs. These provisions primarily affect medical researchers, pharmaceutical companies, and patients suffering from endemic fungal diseases, while the working group will include federal representatives, medical providers, researchers, and patient advocacy organizations.
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