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The House and Senate appropriations committees earlier this week passed parallel spending bills that would boost NIH budgets while eliminating the Agency for Healthcare Research Quality, a $465 million agency that plays a central role in the implementation of President Barack Obama’s health care law.

After more than a decade of flat funding and budget cuts, both bills provided aggressive increases for NIH:

• The House appropriations committee approved a proposed $1.1 billion increase on June 24.

• Senate subcommittee appropriators went even further, proposing a $2 billion increase during markup June 23.

	ASCO Publishes Drug Value Assessment Tool The American Society of Clinical Oncology earlier this week published a proposed framework for assessing the value of new cancer treatments. The paper, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology June 22, quantifies clinical benefit, side effects and cost as components of value. ASCO’s objective is to build a standardized tool that can be used as the basis of shared decision-making by oncologists and their patients. Related Coverage of Drug Pricing
	OHSU Reaches $1 Billion Goal, Begins Recruiting Scientists and Researchers Oregon Health & Science University met the challenge posed by Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife Penny by raising $500 million in less than two years, earning the Knights’ matching gift and setting a $1 billion fundraising record. The announcement was made June 25. The $1 billion will support the first large-scale program dedicated to early detection of lethal cancers. OHSU Knight Cancer Institute will now begin rapid recruitment of about 25 of top-tier researchers.
	Appropriations Bill Seeks to Preempt FDA Efforts to Broaden Tobacco Regulation A $20.65 billion agriculture appropriations bill, which cleared a House subcommittee June 18, seeks to limit FDA’s ability to review electronic cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products already on the market. The legislation—which was approved by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies—would prevent the FDA Center for Tobacco Products from requiring products already on the market to go through the Premarket Tobacco Review application process under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
	Study: Widespread Overtreatment Of Benign Lung Nodules in Community Oncology Practices Thousands of U.S. patients may be undergoing unnecessary lung biopsies and surgeries annually due to overtreatment of benign lung nodules, according to a study published in the journal CHEST. The study—funded by Integrated Diagnostics, or Indi—examined how community pulmonologists treated and managed the care of 377 patients with indeterminate (medium-sized) lung nodules. The paper is titled “Management of Pulmonary Nodules by Community Pulmonologists: A Multicenter Observational Study.”
	Funding Opportunity AACR Launches Grant Program For Young Investigators The American Association for Cancer Research has launched the AACR NextGen Grants for Transformative Cancer Research, a funding initiative to stimulate innovative research from young investigators. The grant mechanism is intended to promote and support creative, paradigm-shifting cancer research that, because of its very nature, may not otherwise be funded through existing channels.
	In Brief Five new members appointed to NCAB Five members rotate off the NCI Board of Scientific Advisors AHRQ to fund three centers of excellence with $52 million over five years Maurizio D’Incalci receives award from European Association of Cancer Research, AACR, and Italian Cancer Society Conquer Cancer Foundation honors six oncology practices with Clinical Trials Participation Awards Broad Institute to collaborate with Google Genomics Guardant Health partners with SWOG for NSCLC study Karmanos Cancer Institute and Detroit Tigers to host “Pink Out the Park”
	Drugs and Targets FDA grants priority review to MM-398 Soligenix to recruit patients for phase III study Advaxis submits special protocol assessment to FDA Amgen and Roche to collaborate on phase Ib study Cigna publishes positive coverage decision for VeriStrat

20150619 - Jun 19, 2015

ISSUE 24 – JUNE 19, 2015

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Are Cancer Drugs Worth the Money?
MSKCC Tool Tests Pricing Rationale

A health services researcher at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has proposed a method for assessing whether cancer drugs are rationally priced.

Peter Bach, director of the MSKCC Center for Health Policy and Outcomes, constructed DrugAbacus, a tool for analyzing the value of the new generation of cancer drugs.

Also:

	Appropriations House Spending Bill to Eliminate AHRQ While Adding $1.1 Billion to NIH Budget A $153 billion spending bill that cleared a House subcommittee June 17 seeks to abolish the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the federal entity that funds patient-centered outcomes research and monitors the manner in which medicine is practiced in the U.S. At the same time, the bill proposes increasing the NIH budget to $31.2 billion, a $1.1 billion above this year’s level and $100 million more than the White House requested.
	AAUP Censures MD Anderson MD Anderson Cancer Center has been censured by the American Association of University Professors, an organization that defends academic freedom and shared governance. The decision was made at AAUP’s annual meeting, which concluded June 13 in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1915, AAUP has 47,000 individual members and 300 chapters.
	Congress Reintroduces Bill to Limit Out-of-Pocket Costs for Oral Anticancer Drugs House and Senate sponsors have reintroduced the Cancer Treatment Parity Act, a bill that would require insurers to provide coverage for oral anticancer drugs on terms no less favorable than coverage for intravenous chemotherapy. Previously introduced in 2011 and 2013, the 2015 version would reduce out-of-pocket costs for oral chemotherapy, but would not mandate coverage of oral medications.
	CPRIT Reaches Milestone in Providing 2 Million Cancer Prevention Services to Texans The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas has provided more than 2 million cancer prevention services to Texans across all 254 counties in the state, the institute announced June 16. Prevention measures funded by CPRIT grants include tobacco cessation programs, vaccinations, screening for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers, genetic testing and counseling, and survivor care.
	In Brief John Sampson named chair of Duke Department of Neurosurgery John Zaia named director of City of Hope’s Center for Gene Therapy AHRQ to fund three centers of excellence with $52 million over five years Eli Lilly & Co. announces collaborations with Dana-Farber and Sarah Cannon Research Institute
	Drugs and Targets Gardasil 9 receives marketing authorization from European Commission FDA approves Ventana ALK (D5F3) CDx companion diagnostic assay for Xalkori

20150613 - Jun 13, 2015

SPECIAL REPORT – JUNE 13, 2015

AAUP Places MD Anderson on Censure List

MD Anderson Cancer Center has been censured by the American Association of University Professors, an organization that defends academic freedom and shared governance.

The decision was made at AAUP’s Annual Meeting, which concluded June 13 in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1915, AAUP has 47,000 individual members and 300 chapters.

Several hundred AAUP members unanimously voted to censure Ronald DePinho’s administration, said Gregory Scholtz, AAUP associate secretary and director of the Department of Academic Freedom.

“There was no debate,” Scholtz said to The Cancer Letter.

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