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November 2004 News in this issue:
> NIH
Update
3299 K Street, NW,
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Welcome to the November
2004 issue of the Friends of Cancer
Research Newsletter. For
more information and updates,
please monitor the Friends' website at www.focr.org.
POLICY UPDATES On November 20, Congress passed the remaining 9 appropriations bills for FY 2005 as part of an omnibus appropriations package. Included in the bill was $28.6 billion for NIH, an increase of roughly $800 million over the 2004 funding levels (a 2.9% increase). As part of the NIH total, the National Cancer Institute will receive $4.87 billion. This amount reflects a total increase of $129.6 million from the prior year (2.7%). However, the legislation permits a nearly 1% across-the-board reduction for all programs. These funding levels are among the smallest increases in NIH history. According to a Washington Fax story released on December 8th, the budget outlook for 2006 remains grim. The draft FY 06 budget sent from the White House's Office of Management and Budget to HHS for comment contains about a 1% cut for the NIH. While these are only the initial "passback" figures, there is little hope that considerable improvements can be made to these amounts before the White House submits its final budget to the Congress. The story also points out that Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio), who chairs the key subcommittee on the House Appropriations Committee with jurisdiction over NIH, "has told advocacy groups he is not interested in appropriating more funds for NIH until he sees strong accountability in the agency." * SPECIAL INTERVIEW with Scott Gottlieb on cancer drugs and the FDA Former CMS Senior Advisor and FDA Medical Policy Director, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, shares his thoughts on the pressing issue of the FDA and cancer drugs in this month's IN THE SPOTLIGHT Gottlieb comments, "At FDA I was most worried about the accelerated approval process and the standards for approving new cancer drugs. I remain worried that the bar on approving new cancer drugs might be climbing higher. I think it’s absolutely critical that we learn as much as we can about the safety of new cancer drugs before they are approved... But I don’t think it is possible to learn everything there is to know about their benefits." [see IN THE SPOTLIGHT for more] Vioxx aftermath may impact cancer community The FDA and drug industry are under increased scrutiny regarding safety issues as the debate intensifies in the aftermath of the Senate Finance Committee 's Vioxx hearing on November 18, 2004. A representative of Friends of Cancer Research attended the four and a half hour hearing during which numerous questions were raised regarding efficacy and safety issues surrounding the FDA drug approval process. As discussion continues to evolve and expand, the cancer community must keep close watch on the impact any proposed regulatory or procedural changes will have on cancer drugs. The recent spotlight on the FDA could lead to unintended changes in the type, number, and rate of future cancer drugs that reach patients. NCI and CDC release "U.S. Cancer Statistics Report"
Covering over 92% of the total population (up from 86% last year), the
US Cancer
Statistics: 2001 Incidence and Mortality report is
the most comprehensive federal report available on state-specific cancer
rates. Among some
if its major findings, the report indicates that prostate
cancer was
the leading cancer diagnosis for
men, and breast cancer was
the leading cancer diagnosis for
women. Lung cancer remained
the the leading cause of cancer death for men and women. For more
detailed findings, please visit the CDC site at: FRIENDS ACTIVITIES FOCR President honored with Woodrow Wilson Award
President
of Friends of
Cancer Research, Marlene Malek, and her husband, Fred Malek, who is
Chairman of Thayer Capital Partners were honored this past month by the
Woodrow Wilson Foundation with the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate
Citizenship.
According to the Wilson Center, "recipients share
President Wilson's vision of improving our policies and institutions
through enlightened and deliberate dialogue and stand as living
testaments to what may be accomplished when the worlds of learning,
public affairs, and business come together in common interest."
FOCR Chairperson participates in FORTUNE Most Powerful Women's Summit Friends Chairperson, Ellen Sigal, participated in FORTUNE Magazine's Most Powerful Women’s Summit in Dana Point, California this past month. Bringing together women leaders in business, government, academia, philanthropy, and the arts, the summit provides an outlet for the group to interact, debate, and learn. This year's participants also included a fellow Friends Board Member, Sherry Lansing, who is Chairman and CEO of the Paramount Pictures Motion Picture Group. WCRF honored with Glamour "Women of The Year" Recognition Friends of Cancer Research extends its congratulations to the five women who founded the Women's Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, for being named Glamour "Women of the Year" in the 2004 December issue of Glamour Magazine. The honorees included Marion Laurie, Anne Douglas, Kelly Meyer, Quinn Ezralow, and Jamie Tisch. The Fund's main initiative is the Biomarker Discovery Project, which works to discover molecular signs for breast cancer. Dr. Ellen Sigal, chair and founder of Friends of Cancer Research, serves on the project's Oversight Committee, providing strategic direction for scientists and the overall project's success.
Friends attends AAAS/Research!America Seminar
on Research Outlook for 2005
IN THE SPOTLIGHT:
While investment banking, medical school, and writing for USA Today
may not be the most conventional path to being a senior advisor at the
FDA, Dr. Scott Gottlieb has not only tackled all three and more, but
has seamlessly blended his many experiences into a successful
health-care related career - whether he is practicing it, writing
about it, or enforcing it.
This doctor,
writer, and senior government advisor shares his thoughts in this
month's "In the Spotlight" on the cancer drug approval process, his
suggestions for conveying the importance of research to the public and
private sectors, and his policy recommendations for the cancer
community to pursue.
For the full interview, please click here. www.focr.org/news/spotlight.html
Friends of Cancer Research |
