House Committee Marks Up ARPA-H Authorization Legislation, Advances to House Floor

On May 18, the House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee marked up several pieces of legislation including the Advanced Research Project Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Act (H.R. 5585), authorization legislation for the newly established health research agency. During the markup, the bill championed by the E&C Health Subcommittee Chair Anna Eshoo (D-CA) was amended to explicitly state that ARPA-H would be established as an “independent operating division within the Department of Health and Human Services” and directs the Biden Administration to transfer ARPA-H away from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), pushing back on the Administration’s recent move to house it in NIH (see previous coverage). In addition, the amended legislation authorizes $500 million per year for ARPA-H, far below the $1 billion appropriated for the agency for fiscal year (FY) 2022. With the legislation headed to the House floor, it is likely that inter-party disagreements about ARPA-H will be highlighted. Stay tuned for more coverage about ARPA-H here.