05-June-2015

Nick Manetto, a FaegreBD Consulting principal, recently sat down with USAgainstAlzheimer's to discuss the 21st Century Cures Act, a proposed piece of legislation designed to streamline the process of health care innovation and drug development. Manetto serves as public policy and advocacy counsel for USAgainstAlzheimer's, a nonprofit that advocates reform of drug-development systems and increased private and public funding for Alzheimer’s research and treatment.

Manetto highlighted the ways the law—which has bipartisan support—could help efforts to cure Alzheimer's, which he said affects more than 5 million people in the United States and more than 44 million people worldwide.

"Alzheimer's research has often felt stuck because of inadequate funding for medical research, insufficient clinical trial infrastructure and poor coordination among government, academia and industry," Manetto said. "This legislation will begin to breakdown these challenges and encourage new strategies, new partnerships and new incentives to support innovation and financing drug development for even the high-risk, high-reward diseases like Alzheimer's."

Manetto said he expects the House to vote on the legislation by the end of June and hopes to see it implemented by early 2016.

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