Council for American Medical Innovation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 24, 2010

Teresa Schofield
202-347-7516
teresa.schofield@americanmedicalinnovation.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 24, 2010) – The Council for American Medical Innovation (CAMI), a partnership of leaders in research, medicine, patient advocacy, academia, education, labor and business dedicated to advancing medical innovation, today applauded the Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on the collaborative initiative to expedite the process for bringing medical innovations to the public marketplace.  HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., and FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, M.D., announced the endeavor at a press conference earlier today.
 
“The leadership shown by Secretary Sebelius, Director Collins and Commissioner Hamburg in placing a priority on moving innovative therapies from the ‘microscope to the marketplace’ underscores the important and vital role that medical innovation plays in job creation and the health of our nation, our citizens and our economy,” said Debra R. Lappin, president of CAMI.
 
The initiative unveiled today by the NIH and FDA focuses on three activities:
Establishment of a NIH/FDA Leadership Council to oversee the collaboration between these two agencies
Providing $6.75 million in grants for regulatory science
Engaging the public on the topic of regulatory science
 
“On behalf of our chairman, former Congressman Dick Gephardt, and the members of CAMI, I commend this groundbreaking collaboration and look forward to working with the NIH and FDA to ensure the success of this program and the overall effort to expedite medical innovation and increase investment in regulatory science,” said Lappin.

For more information on the Council for American Medical Innovation, visit www.americanmedicalinnovation.org.