WASHINGTON, DC – The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) today issued the following statement after U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced the Promise for Antibiotics and Therapeutics for Health (PATH) Act to streamline the drug approval pathway as well as encourage the innovation and development of lifesaving antibiotics.

“We commend Senators Bennet and Hatch for introducing this important piece of legislation. This bipartisan effort is an example of steps we need to take to ensure the United States remains the global hub for medical innovation and to promote investment in desperately-needed antibiotics that will improve the lives of everyday Americans as well as our veterans returning from overseas deployment,” said Bobby Franklin, President and CEO of NVCA.

“While we recognize the important role this new pathway could play in the development of antibiotics to treat resistant infections, we strongly believe the new pathway designation should be extended to a broad range of drugs. Limiting it to antibiotics would result in a missed opportunity to advance other innovative medicines that would benefit patients suffering from very serious diseases,” added Franklin. “Like the breakthrough therapy designation, we believe a limited use designation for promising new drugs in areas of unmet medical need—if designed carefully and used appropriately—will help accelerate the development of certain medicines and will encourage investment in some critical areas where development paths are viewed as too long and uncertain to attract investment.”

“NVCA appreciates the continued efforts both by Congress and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to seek new and creative ways to safely and responsibly speed the development process for innovative therapies where there are no existing treatments for patients. We look forward to working with Congress and other stakeholders to pass this important legislation,” said Franklin.