The devil's in the details

Still, there is one particular detail that is worth scientists in general - and maybe genome biologists in particular - paying some attention to. It goes by the rather unglamorous name of SA 2688, and it's an amendment to the bill. It was inserted into the final package by Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, a longtime champion of biomedical research and increased funding for the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). The amendment is 8 pages long, so I can't quote it in detail, but here's a summary of what it says.The amendment creates a program called the Cures Acceleration Network (CAN) within the Office of the NIH Director (with a 24-member oversight board). CAN is to "award grants and contracts to eligible entities… to accelerate the development of high need cures, including through the development of medical products and behavioral therapies". A high need cure is defined as a product that "is a priority to diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or treat harm from any disease or condition; and for which the incentives of the commercial market are unlikely to result in its adequate or timely development". CAN's functions include: conducting and supporting revolutionary advances in basic research; translating scientific discoveries from bench to bedside; awarding grants and contracts to eligible entities; providing the resources necessary for government agencies, private companies, academic institutions, and investigators to develop high need cures; reducing the barriers between laboratory discoveries and clinical trials for new therapies; and facilitating review in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the high need cures funded by CAN.The board consists of 24 members, serving 4 year terms. At least one individual eminent in each of the following fields will be appointed: basic research; medicine; biopharmaceuticals; discovery and delivery of medical products; bioinformatics and gene therapy; medical instrumentation; and regulatory review and approval of medical pro