Academics join lobby for NIH budget boost

A group of more than a hundred health groups, medical and scientific societies, and academic and research institutions have sent a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee in support of the 21st Century Cures Act, which would provide a significant boost in funding for the National Institutes of Health.

“This is a most welcome infusion of funding that will help revitalize and rebuild our nation’s biomedical research capacity, which has eroded because of NIH losing nearly one-fourth of its budget after inflation in the past decade,” the letter says.

The bill would add $1.5 billion to the NIH’s budget in each of the next three years, and create a $10bn NIH Innovation Fund that would be disbursed over five years. The legislation has bipartisan support, but budget sequestration rules make it difficult to increase spending.