Washington, DC (July 15, 2024) – The independent, non-profit Alliance for Cell Therapy Now applauds Congress for inclusion of several provisions within the final House and Senate Reports for FY 2025 Appropriations that will advance the development and manufacturing of cell-based therapies. Key provisions include:
- Recognition that cell-based therapies hold promise for a broad range of conditions, including neurological conditions, musculoskeletal conditions, cancer, radiation damage, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, blindness, skin diseases, wound healing, and autoimmune and immune-medicated disease.
- Support for the development and launch of a coordinated program to support research, development, and specific activities related to manufacturing of somatic (adult) gene and cell-based therapies for patients with serious and life-threatening conditions, which could include:
- Support of large-scale, randomized, controlled clinical trials or other innovative clinical trial designs exploring the use of somatic gene and cell-based therapies for serious and life-threatening conditions
- Development, characterization, optimization, and scaling of manufacturing of gene and cell-based therapies
- A clinical trials network to support sharing of best practices and lessons learned
- Workforce development activities; and
- Collaborative, evidence development, including the development and operation of an outcomes database.
- Support for engagement of experts and stakeholders to advance awareness, understanding, and utilization of existing databases to promote research and development