Protect Patients by Protecting America's Innovation Ecosystem

By: Priscilla VanderVeer

We recently submitted a public comment letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) about their proposed changes to the rules governing federal grants.

The sweeping changes would make it easier for federal research funding to be terminated based on shifting political priorities, threatening the long-term stability that scientific research requires to succeed.

175 people joined us and signed onto our letter to highlight how the proposed rule could introduce significant uncertainty into America's research enterprise. Here are three reasons why we're concerned. 

1. Biomedical innovation depends on predictability.

When uncertainty in the biomedical ecosystem increases, investment in drug discovery decreases.

The result of these changes would not just be fewer research grants. It would be fewer investors funding early-stage innovation, leading to fewer clinical trials, fewer startup companies, fewer high-quality American jobs, and ultimately, fewer life-saving medicines reaching patients.

2. America's scientific leadership is a strategic national asset.

The United States leads the world in biomedical innovation because it has built independent institutions that attract the world's best scientists and entrepreneurs. Those institutions have become engines of economic growth, national security, and medical progress.

At a time when geopolitical competitors are making unprecedented investments in science and biotechnology, weakening confidence in America's research enterprise sends exactly the wrong signal.

3. Patients have the most to lose.

The greatest cost of weakened scientific institutions is not measured in grant dollars. It is measured in breakthroughs that never happen, diseases that remain uncured, and families who are left waiting for cures.

America's research enterprise exists because previous generations invested in discoveries whose benefits they would never personally experience. We owe future patients that same commitment.

Our country's leadership in innovation depends on an ecosystem that gives researchers, entrepreneurs, and investors the confidence to pursue discoveries that often take years to reach people. If OMB wants to improve grant oversight, they can do so while preserving the independent, merit-based scientific review process, not by prioritizing shifting political priorities.

You can read our full letter here.