Cures 2.0 Bill Introduced in the House, Includes RISE Act and ARPA-H Authorization

On November 16, Representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Fred Upton (R-MI) introduced the Cures 2.0 Act, long anticipated legislation aiming to bolster the U.S. biomedical research enterprise. Most notably, the legislation would authorize $6.5 billion for an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), a long-touted Biden Administration priority. Unlike the previously introduced Advanced Research Project Agency-Health (ARPA-H) Act (H.R. 5585) which authorizes $3 billion for an independent ARPA-H within the Department of Health and Human Services, the Cures 2.0 Act would establish ARPA-H within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (see previous coverage for more details).

In addition to the ARPA-H authorization, the Cures 2.0 Act includes the Research Investment to Spark the Economy (RISE) Act, legislation that would authorize relief funding for federal research agencies to help strengthen U.S. research in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authorization is spread out among several federal research agencies, notably $10 billion for the NIH and $3 billion for the National Science Foundation. Check out COSSA’s full coverage of the RISE Act, including a Headlines webinar from the spring.

The bill text and a summary of the bill can be found in a press release on DeGette’s website.