Union Calendar No. 277
117th CONGRESS 2d Session |
[Report No. 117–365]
To establish the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Health, and for other purposes.
October 15, 2021
Ms. Eshoo introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
June 13, 2022
Additional sponsors: Ms. Lofgren, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Thompson of California, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Costa, Mr. Suozzi, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Mr. Michael F. Doyle of Pennsylvania, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Cartwright, Mrs. Fletcher, Mr. Cárdenas, Ms. Craig, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Courtney, Mr. Perlmutter, Ms. Ross, Mr. McNerney, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Peters, Ms. Barragán, Mr. Levin of California, Mr. Tonko, Ms. Schrier, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Khanna, Ms. Chu, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mr. Schiff, Ms. Speier, Mr. Aguilar, Mr. Trone, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Schrader, Ms. Jacobs of California, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Welch, Mr. Rush, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Kuster, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mrs. Dingell, Ms. Matsui, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mr. O'Halleran, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Upton, Ms. Sewell, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Morelle, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Nadler, Mr. McEachin, Mr. Soto, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Lawson of Florida, Mr. Burgess, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Williams of Georgia, and Ms. Brown of Ohio
June 13, 2022
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on October 15, 2021]
To establish the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Health, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Advanced Research Projects Agency–Health Act” or the “ARPA–H Act”.
SEC. 2. Advanced research projects agency–health.
Title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 281 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“SEC. 499A. Advanced Research Projects Agency–Health.
“(a) Establishment.—There is established, as an independent operating division within the Department of Health and Human Services, the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Health (in this part referred to as ‘ARPA–H’). Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this part, the Secretary shall transfer all functions, personnel, missions, activities, authorities, and funds of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health within the National Institutes of Health, as in existence on the date of enactment of this part, to ARPA–H established by the preceding sentence.
“(b) Goals and methods.—
“(1) GOALS.—The goals of ARPA–H shall be to—
“(A) foster the development of new, breakthrough capabilities, technologies, systems, and platforms to accelerate innovations in health and medicine that are not being met by Federal programs or private entities;
“(B) revolutionize detection, diagnosis, mitigation, prevention, treatment, and curing of serious diseases and medical conditions through the development of transformative health technologies;
“(2) METHODS.—ARPA–H shall achieve the goals specified in paragraph (1) by—
“(C) providing resources and support to create platform capabilities that draw on multiple disciplines;
“(D) using researchers in a wide range of disciplines, including the life sciences, the physical sciences, engineering, and the computational sciences;
“(E) delivering advanced proofs of concept that demonstrate potentially clinically meaningful advances;
“(F) developing new capabilities, advanced computational tools, predictive models, or analytical techniques to identify potential targets and technological strategies for early disease detection and intervention;
“(G) accelerating transformational technological advances in areas with limited technical certainty; and
“(H) prioritizing investments based on such considerations as—
“(i) scientific opportunity and uniqueness of fit to the strategies and operating practices of ARPA–H;
“(c) Director.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall appoint with the advice and consent of the Senate, a director of ARPA–H (in this part referred to as the ‘Director’).
“(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Director shall be an individual who, by reason of professional background and experience, is especially qualified to manage—
“(4) DUTIES.—The duties of the Director shall include the following:
“(B) Set research and development priorities with respect to the goals specified in subsection (b) and manage the budget of ARPA–H.
“(C) Develop funding criteria and assess the success of programs through the establishment of technical milestones.
“(D) Advance the goals under subsection (b), through consideration of the advice of the ARPA–H Interagency Research Council established under subsection (q).
“(F) Coordinate with the Director of the National Institutes of Health to ensure that the programs of ARPA–H build on, and are informed by, scientific research supported by the National Institutes of Health.
“(6) AUTONOMY OF AGENCY REGARDING RECOMMENDATIONS AND TESTIMONY.—No officer or agency of the United States shall have any authority to require the Director or any other officer of ARPA–H to submit legislative recommendations, or testimony or comments on legislation, to any officer or agency of the United States for approval, comments, or review prior to the submission of such recommendations, testimony, or comments to the Congress, if such recommendations, testimony, or comments to the Congress include a statement indicating that the views expressed therein are those of the Director or such officer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the President or another agency.
“(d) Application of Paperwork Reduction Act.—The Director may waive the requirements of subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code (commonly referred to as the ‘Paperwork Reduction Act’) with respect to the methods described in subsection (b)(2).
“(e) Protection of information.—The following types of information collected by ARPA–H from recipients of financial assistance awards shall be considered commercial and financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential and not subject to disclosure under section 552(b)(4) of title 5, United States Code:
“(1) Plans for commercialization of technologies developed under the award, including business plans, technology-to market plans, market studies, and cost and performance models.
“(2) Investments provided to an awardee from third parties (such as venture capital firms, hedge funds, and private equity firms), including amounts and the percentage of ownership of the awardee provided in return for the investments.
“(f) Sharing information with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.—The Director shall timely share relevant information with the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that may help to expedite determinations of coverage of transformative health technologies developed by ARPA–H.
“(g) Expediting breakthroughs through cooperation with the Food and Drug Administration.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the Commissioner of Food and Drugs and in consultation with the Director, may take actions to facilitate translation of transformative health technology into tangible solutions for patients and to expedite development of drugs, devices, and biological products, including through—
“(A) helping to ensure that drug, device, or biological product development programs, in as efficient a manner as possible, gather the nonclinical and clinical data necessary to advancing the development of such products and to obtaining their approval, licensure, or clearance, as applicable, by the Food and Drug Administration under sections 505, 510(k), and 515 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and section 351 of this Act;
“(B) expediting review of investigational new drug applications under section 505(i) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, review of investigational device exemptions under section 520(g) of such Act, and review of applications for approval, licensure, and clearance of drugs, devices, or biological products under sections 505, 510(k), and 515 of such Act, and section 351 of this Act; and
“(C) meeting at appropriate intervals with the Director and any member of the ARPA–H Interagency Research Council to discuss the development status of drugs, devices, or biological products and projects that are the highest priorities to ARPA–H, unless the Director and the Commissioner of Food and Drugs determine that any such meetings are not necessary.
“(2) RELATION TO OTHERWISE AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES OF THE FDA.—The authority specified in paragraph (1) shall not be construed as limiting the authority of the Secretary, acting through the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, with respect to the review and approval, clearance, authorization for emergency use, or licensure of drugs, devices, or biological products under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act or section 351 of this Act.
“(3) REIMBURSEMENT.—The Director, using funds made available to ARPA–H, may reimburse the Food and Drug Administration for expenditures made by the Food and Drug Administration for activities carried out under this section that have been identified by the Commissioner of Food and Drugs and the Director as being carried out by the Food and Drug Administration.
“(h) Awards.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this section, the Director may make awards including—
“(i) Facilities authority.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director may acquire (by purchase, lease, condemnation, or otherwise), construct, improve, repair, operate, and maintain such real and personal property as may be necessary to carry out this section.
“(2) LEASE OF NONEXCESS PROPERTY.—The Director may enter into a lease under this section with any person or entity (including another department or agency of the Federal Government or an entity of a State or local government) with regard to any nonexcess real property and related personal property under the jurisdiction of the Director.
“(3) UTILIZATION OF LEASE FUNDS.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director may utilize, without further appropriation, amounts of cash consideration received for a lease entered into under this subsection to cover the full costs to ARPA–H in connection with the lease. Funds received as such cash consideration shall remain available until expended.
“(B) CAPITAL REVITALIZATION AND IMPROVEMENTS.—Of any amounts of cash consideration received under this subsection that are not utilized in accordance with subparagraph (A), without further appropriation—
“(i) 35 percent shall—
“(ii) the remaining 65 percent shall be available to the respective center or facility of ARPA–H engaged in the lease of nonexcess real property, and shall remain available until expended for maintenance, capital revitalization, and improvements of the real property assets and related personal property at the respective center or facility subject to the concurrence of the Director.
“(j) Personnel.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director may—
“(A) make and rescind appointments of scientific, engineering, medical, and professional personnel, which may include temporary or time-limited appointments as determined by the Director to fulfill the mission of ARPA–H, without regard to any provision in title 5, United States Code, governing appointments and removals under the civil service laws, and fix the base pay compensation of such personnel at a rate to be determined by the Director, up to the amount of annual compensation (excluding expenses) specified in section 102 of title 3, United States Code; and
“(2) ADDITIONAL STAFF.—The Director may use, to the same extent and in the same manner as the Secretary, all authorities in existence on the date of the enactment of this section that are provided to the Secretary to hire administrative, financial, contracts, legislative affairs, information technology, ethics, and communications staff, and such other staff as may be identified by the Director as necessary to carry out this section.
“(3) ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS.—In appointing personnel under this subsection, the Director—
“(4) ADDITIONAL HIRING AUTHORITY.—To the extent needed to carry out the authorities vested by paragraph (1), the Director may utilize hiring authorities under sections 3371 through 3376 of title 5, United States Code, to staff ARPA–H with employees from other Federal agencies, State and local governments, Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations, institutions of higher education, and other organizations, as described in such sections.
“(6) AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT FEDERAL DETAILEES.—The Director may accept officers or employees of the United States or members of the uniformed service on a detail from an element of the Federal Government on a reimbursable or a nonreimbursable basis, as jointly agreed to by the heads of the receiving and detailing elements, for a period not to exceed 3 years.
“(k) Program managers.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall appoint program managers for 3-year terms (and may reappoint such program managers for 1 consecutive 3-year term) for the programs carried out by ARPA–H.
“(2) DUTIES.—A program manager shall—
“(A) establish, in consultation with the Director or Deputy Director, research and development goals for programs, including timelines and milestones, and make such goals available to the public;
“(B) collaborate with experts from the National Institutes of Health and other Federal agencies and experts in relevant scientific fields to identify research and development gaps and opportunities;
“(C) convene workshops and meetings, as needed, with entities such as patients, patient advocacy groups, practitioners, professional societies, and other stakeholders to solicit input on programs and goals;
“(D) manage applications and proposals, through the appropriate officials for making grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, prizes, and other transaction awards for advanced research that may show particular promise, especially in areas in which the private sector and the Federal Government have not undertaken sufficient research;
“(E) issue funding opportunity announcements, using uniform administrative processes, as appropriate;
“(F) select, on the basis of merit, each of the projects to be supported under a program carried out by ARPA–H, and taking into consideration—
“(G) conduct project reviews within 18 months of funding awards to identify milestones and monitor progress of such milestones with respect to each project and prior to disbursement of new funds;
“(H) provide recommendations to the Director with respect to advancing the goals specified in subsection (b);
“(I) cultivate opportunities for the commercial application or community use of successful projects, including through the establishment of partnerships between or among awardees;
“(K) provide recommendations to expand, restructure, or terminate research partnerships or projects; and
“(l) Reports and evaluation.—
“(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Director shall submit a report on the actions undertaken, and results generated, by ARPA–H, including—
“(i) a description of projects supported by ARPA–H in the previous fiscal year and whether such projects are meeting the goals developed by the Director pursuant to subsection (c)(4)(C);
“(ii) a description of projects terminated in the previous fiscal year, and the reason for such termination;
“(v) an analysis of the extent of coordination conducted pursuant to subsections (c)(4)(F) and (f), including successes and barriers with respect to achieving the goals under subsection (b);
“(vi) a description of the demographic (including racial and gender) diversity if available of direct recipients and performers in funded projects and of the ARPA–H workforce; and
“(vii) a disclosure by the reward recipients of whether the principal investigators named on the award participate in foreign talent programs, including the provision of copies of all grants, contracts, or other agreements related to such programs, and other supporting documentation related to such programs, as a condition of receipt of Federal extramural biomedical research funding awarded.
“(2) EVALUATION.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine under which the National Academies agree to study and evaluate whether ARPA–H is meeting the goals specified in subsection (b).
“(B) SUBMISSION OF RESULTS.—The agreement entered into under subparagraph (A) shall require the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to submit the results of the evaluation conducted under such agreement to the Secretary, the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate.
“(m) Strategic plan.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, and every 3 years thereafter, the Director shall provide to the relevant committees of Congress a strategic plan describing how ARPA–H will carry out investments each fiscal year in the following 3-year period.
“(n) Independent review.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, and every 3 years thereafter, the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct an independent review of the research portfolio of the Department of Health and Human Services, including ARPA–H, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority—
“(o) Prioritization.—The Director shall—
“(1) prioritize awarding grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, prizes, and other transaction awards to domestic recipients conducting the research on transformative health technology in the United States;
“(2) as appropriate and practicable, ensure that nondomestic recipients of any grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, prizes, and other transactions under this section are conducting research in collaboration with a domestic recipient;
“(3) not award any grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, prizes, and other transactions to nondomestic recipients subject to malign foreign influence or organized under the laws of a malign foreign country; and
“(4) in accordance with the requirements of chapter 33 of title 41, United States Code, and the Federal Acquisition Regulation, only award grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, prizes, and other transactions to individual persons that do not have more than 3 ongoing concurrent grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, prizes, and other transactions under this section.
“(p) Additional consultation.—In carrying out this section, the Director may consult with—
“(3) an existing advisory committee providing advice to the Secretary or the head of any operating or staff division of the Department;
“(q) ARPA–H Interagency Research Council.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish an interagency advisory committee to be known as the ARPA–H Interagency Research Council (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Research Council’).
“(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Research Council may include any or all of the following members, or designees:
“(3) DUTIES.—The Research Council shall advise the Director, including by—
“(4) ADVISORY NATURE.—The function of the Research Council shall be advisory in nature. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as granting the Research Council authority over any activities or functions of ARPA–H.
“(5) MEETINGS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, and every fiscal year thereafter, the Director shall convene meetings of the Research Council, including conferences or workshops, as needed. The Research Council may function through established or ad hoc committees, task forces, or interagency groups to—
“(r) Technology transfer office.—The Director may establish within ARPA–H an Office of Technology Transfer to facilitate, where appropriate, the transfer of federally-owned or federally-originated technology to recipients of an award under this section (other than Federal Government entities).
“(s) Follow-on production award authority.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—An other transaction entered into by the Director under subsection (h)(1) for a project may provide for the award of a follow-on production contract or transaction to the participants in the transaction by ARPA–H or another Federal agency. For purposes of this paragraph, such an other transaction includes all individual subprojects awarded under the transaction to a consortium of United States industry and academic institutions.
“(2) RELATION TO COMPETITIVE PROCEDURES.—A follow-on production contract or transaction under paragraph (1) may be awarded to the participants in the transaction without the use of competitive procedures (as defined in section 152 of title 41, United States Code), notwithstanding the requirements of division C of subtitle I of such title 41, if—
“(3) PRECONDITION.—A follow-on production contract or transaction may be awarded pursuant to this subsection when the Director determines that an individual project or subproject as part of a consortium is successfully completed by the participants.
“(4) CLARIFICATION.—Award of a follow-on production contract or transaction pursuant to this subsection shall not be made contingent upon the successful completion of all activities within a consortium as a condition for an award for follow-on production of a successfully completed project or subproject within that consortium.
“(5) OTHER AUTHORITIES.—Contracts and transactions entered into by ARPA–H pursuant to this subsection may be awarded pursuant to division C of subtitle I of title 41, United States Code, or under such procedures, terms, and conditions as the Director or head of such agency may establish by regulation.
“(t) Rule of construction.—The authorities under this section, with respect to the Director, are additional authorities that do not supersede or modify any existing authorities.
“(u) Definitions.—In this part:
“(1) ADVANCED PROOFS OF CONCEPT.—The term ‘advanced proofs of concept’ means data, a prototype, or other experimental evidence that—
“(2) BIOLOGICAL PRODUCT.—The term ‘biological product’ has the meaning given such term in section 351(i).
“(4) DRUG; DEVICE.—The terms ‘drug’ and ‘device’ have the meanings given such terms in section 201 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
“(5) FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION.—The term ‘Federal Acquisition Regulation’ means the Federal Acquisition Regulation issued pursuant to section 1303(a)(1) of title 41, United States Code.
“(6) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘Federal agency’ has the meaning given such term in section 3371 of title 5, United States Code.
“(7) PRIZE.—The term ‘prize’ means a prize as such term is used in section 24 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980.
“(8) TRANSFORMATIVE HEALTH TECHNOLOGY.—The term ‘transformative health technology’ means a drug, biological product, intervention, platform, tool, or device—
Union Calendar No. 277 | |||||
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[Report No. 117–365] | |||||
A BILL | |||||
To establish the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Health, and for other purposes. | |||||
June 13, 2022 | |||||
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed |