Updated: Trump Signs Omnibus Spending Bill With Boost in FDA Funding
President Donald Trump on Friday signed the $1.3 trillion spending bill to fund the government through 30 September.The omnibus will bring the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) budget to a total of $2.9 billion in discretionary funding (meaning not user fees), $135 million above the 2017 enacted level, according to the House Appropriations Committee.
According to the Alliance for a Stronger FDA, compared to the last FY 2018 continuing resolution, the omnibus will add $41 million in additional discretionary funding.
Of the new funds, $15 million will go toward FDA’s new Oncology Center of Excellence, while the bill also appropriates $60 million to accelerate medical product development as authorized in the 21st Century Cures Act, which is an increase of $40 million available under the Act from 2017.
The alliance also noted that $94 million will support the expansion of FDA’s role in combatting opioid abuse, using funds from a general provision.
In addition, $94 million will help expand FDA's efforts at International Mail Facilities to address the opioid crisis.
For the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the spending bill would provide additional funds as well.
According to the House Appropriations Committee, the bill provides a total of $37 billion for NIH, an increase of $3 billion above the FY 2017 enacted level.
The bill also increases funding for several research initiatives, including:
- $1.8 billion (+$414 million) for Alzheimer’s disease research
- $400 million (+$140 million) for the Brain Research through Application of Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative
- $290 million (+$60 million) for the All of Us research initiative (formerly called the Precision Medicine Initiative)
- $10 million (+$8 million) for regenerative medicine research
- $100 million (+$40 million) for universal flu vaccine research
- $351 million (+17 million) for research on combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria
- $543 million (+27 million) for Clinical and Translational Science Awards
- $351 million (+$17 million) for Institutional Development Awards (IDeA).