"One in 10 Americans are living with a rare disease, but less than 10% of all rare diseases have an approved treatment option," Sen.
Bob Casey says in a press release.
"It is important we do all we can to improve access to innovative health care optionsespecially for children."
That's why the Pennsylvania Democrat and Oklahoma Sen.
Markwayne Mullin have introduced the Creating Hope Reauthorization Act, which would extend the FDA's Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Voucher program for another 15 years.
Under the program, the FDA issues " vouchers" to pharmaceutical companies to speed up the review and approval of new treatments for children with rare diseases.
Since its creation in 2012, the PRV has awarded 53 vouchers for 39 rare diseases that have led to treatments that have helped more than 200,000 patients, the press release notes.
The PRV program "has been a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of children living with rare medical conditions," Mullin says in the release.
"Over the past decade, the Rare Pediatric Disease (RPD) Priority Review Voucher (PRV) program has successfully helped incentivize and expedite the development of new treatments and cures for young children with rare conditions including pediatric cancer and rare genetic disorders," he adds.
The program "helps speed the development of new treatments
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