Washington, DC (March 28, 2018) – Advocates from the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) are meeting with representatives, senators, and their respective staffs today to urge Congress to support KidneyX, a new public-private partnership to accelerate innovation in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of kidney diseases.
“The prevalence of kidney diseases in the U.S. is at a record high,” said Crystal A. Gadegbeku, MD, chair of the ASN Policy and Advocacy Committee. “To improve the lives of millions of Americans, we need Congress to support KidneyX and the commercialization of promising innovations for people with kidney diseases. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) report highlighting the burden of kidney diseases in America is a wake-up call and KidneyX offers a pathway that will potentially help us better serve Americans.”
Paul T. Conway, President of the American Association of Kidney Patients stated, “With nearly 700,000 Americans living on dialysis and over 40 million others at-risk for kidney disease, the time is now to disrupt the status quo in kidney care and accelerate the breakthrough innovations KidneyX will catalyze in the kidney space. Absent innovation, kidney patients will continue to fall behind in their ability to fully realize their aspirations and have less opportunities than other Americans to have a career, provide for their families or own a home.” Conway has managed kidney disease for over 37 years, including several years on dialysis and, for the past 21 years, as a kidney transplant recipient.
The GAO data shows that Medicare spends nearly $34 billion to manage kidney failure, more than 7 percent of all Medicare spending. In order to bring better value to Medicare and improve patient outcomes, ASN and AAKP advocates are urging Congress to support Kidney, a public-private partnership to seed, incent, and accelerate breakthroughs to promising new products for people with kidney diseases.
Founded in 2018, KidneyX is a patient-centered solution designed to reduce the specific barriers that hinder innovation in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of kidney diseases, and catalyze private sector involvement in ways that are not currently addressed by the public and private sectors. KidneyX will initially focus on the development and commercialization of next-generation dialysis products, and will later expand to include diagnostics, other devices, medications, and patient-centered tools to more effectively and efficiently manage kidney diseases.
Since 1966, ASN has been leading the fight to prevent, treat, and cure kidney diseases throughout the world by educating health professionals and scientists, advancing research and innovation, communicating new knowledge, and advocating for the highest quality care for patients. ASN has nearly 18,000 members representing 112 countries. For more information, please visit www.asn-online.org or contact the society at 202-640-4660.
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