When President Obama signed the Pediatric Cancer Patients Act, he broke new ground. Creating Hope ActAs part of the FDA Reauthorization Act of 2012
This is the first time Congress has taken action to address the shortage of pediatric cancer drugs, and other deadly childhood diseases. The FDA has approved just one pediatric cancer drug over the last 20-years, compared with 50 for adults.
The National Cancer Institute allocates just 4 percent of its budget to childhood cancers. Funding for other pediatric diseases is also very limited.
“This act will hopefully lead to new and innovative treatments for children with cancer by offering incentives and priority review vouchers to companies or institutions that develop drugs for rare pediatric diseases,”Angie Hayes (Case Manager, National Children’s Cancer Society) was also involved in lobbying for the bill’s passage.
As an incentive to pharmaceutical companies to develop more pediatric drugs, the Creating Hope Act will increase priority review voucher programs. The FDA can review more profitable drugs faster if companies also develop treatments that treat pediatric cancers.
Children’s cancer drugs are not very affordable, but they are urgently needed. There are 35 children diagnosed with cancer every day in the U.S. Three out of five children who survive cancer must deal with potentially fatal side effects.
Beyond the Cure is a survivorship program that NCCS developed for children with cancer. Beyond the Cure is a web-based information centre that offers educational web conferences, awards college scholarships, and provides up-to date listings for additional resources.
Learn more about the problems faced by many childhood cancer survivors. www.beyondthecure.org.
