Congressional Kidney Caucus Hosts Capitol Hill Briefing
Highlights
- Participants from Congress, HHS, NIH, and the kidney community discussed greater coordination among public and private institutions to increase innovation in kidney care and research
Newswise — Washington, DC (September 28, 2018)—Today, the Congressional Kidney Caucus hosted a Capitol Hill Briefing featuring speakers representing the Congressional Kidney Caucus, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and leadership from the kidney patient, physician, and broader community. The briefing, hosted in cooperation with the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP), Kidney Care Partners (KCP), and the Renal Physicians Association (RPA), highlighted the latest efforts by public and private initiatives to combat the public health problems kidney diseases pose and accelerate the development of new therapies, including KidneyX and the Kidney Precision Medicine Project.
More than 40 million Americans are affected by kidney diseases and over 700,000 experience complete kidney failure. Nearly all patients with kidney failure are Medicare beneficiaries regardless of age, costing Medicare more than $34 billion per year. While kidney care is improving as more resources are devoted to advancements in research and patient access to innovative solutions, there is still a need for greater investment in discovery of new therapies, improved technologies, and increase in donor organs for those seeking transplants.
KidneyX, also called the Kidney Innovation Accelerator, is a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and ASN designed to spur innovation in nephrology. Established in April 2018, KidneyX aims to achieve this goal by funding promising innovators through a series of prize competitions and encouraging better coordination across the HHS agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to clarify the path toward commercialization and patient access to innovative solutions. ASN and HHS have each contributed to the KidneyX Prize: Redesign Dialysis, the first in a series of prize competitions, announcing the first prize pool being a total of $2,625,000.
Ed Simcox, Chief Technology Officer and Acting Chief Information Officer of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said “We are proud to partner with ASN, innovators, patients and providers to support new innovations in the treatment of kidney diseases. The Redesign Dialysis prize is about creating a new, collaborative, and activated community that can continue to push the boundaries of innovation in kidney failure treatment.”
We look forward to seeing the innovative solutions submitted during the Redesign Dialysis prize competition opening in late October.”
Mark D. Okusa, MD, FASN, President of the American Society of Nephrology added, “Today, we celebrate two promising vehicles aimed at spurring new developments in the care for people with kidney diseases. The American Society of Nephrology is proud to partner with the Office of the Chief Technology Officer at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services on KidneyX and foster multidisciplinary collaboration to accelerate innovation in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of kidney diseases. We are also enthusiastic about the Kidney Precision Medicine Project, launched by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases, which will enable precision medicine to find specific drug targets and enable highly individualized kidney care.”
Recent advances in multi-scale interrogation of human tissue and single cells have set the stage for precision medicine to be applied to kidney disease. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases is revolutionizing kidney medicine by launching the Kidney Precision Medicine Project (KPMP) which will secure and evaluate human kidney biopsies from participants with acute kidney injury or chronic kidney diseases. With the goal of developing a sound scientific understanding of the kidney and opportunities for novel therapies, KPMP will help ensure the right treatment gets to the right patient at the right time.
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About the American Society of Nephrology
Since 1966, the American Society of Nephrology (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 more than 20,000 members representing 124 countries. For more information, please visit www.asn-online.org or contact us at 202-640-4660.
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