Sam Brownback: “today I introduced with my colleague, Senator Lieberman, the Elimination of Neglected Diseases Act of 2006. This…”

“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.…”