I’m writing to urge you to support the FDA Modernization Act (S. 2952 and H.R. 2565). 

The FDA Modernization Act is included as a rider in H.R. 7667, the Food and Drug Amendments of 2022, which passed the House 392 to 28.  The Senate HELP committee also passed its version of the package (FDASLA – S.4348) which also includes the FDA Modernization Act.

The FDA Modernization Act is a transformative bill that would eliminate an 84-year-old requirement for animal testing for new drugs and vaccines. It would enable the transition to non-animal test methods to test the safety and efficacy of new drugs such as advanced cell-based assays, organ chips, sophisticated computer modeling, and other human biology-based test methods.

Earlier this month, twelve leading scientists, who are at the forefront of the latest developments in biotechnology, sent a letter urging Congress to pass the FDA Modernization Act. These experts understand the ability of non-animal methods, like organoids, organs-on-chips and advanced human cellular models to yield superior data over animal tests.

In another letter, Dr. Jane Goodall, joined with heads of biotechnology company Vivodyne to urge support for Congress to pass the FDA Modernization Act.

Their letter points out: "As the development of therapeutics for human diseases continues to yield increasingly precise and human-specific drug candidates such as monoclonal antibody biologics, immunotherapies, and gene therapies, the inability for animals to mimic and predict the safety and effectiveness of these new drugs in humans continues to become a bottleneck to progress in human health". 

The FDA Modernization Act is a groundbreaking bill that can lower drug costs, speed delivery of drugs, reduce the number of animals used, and increase the safety and effectiveness of drugs and vaccines. It must be preserved.

I urge you to please support the FDA Modernization Act and keep it in any final legislative package that provides funding to the Food and Drug Administration.