WASHINGTON, DC, March 28, 2017 – Doubling down on the deep cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in its proposed FY 2018 budget, the Administration’s proposed NIH budget cuts for FY 2017, a reduction of $1.2 billion from current levels, represent an assault on the hopes of millions with Alzheimer’s and related dementias who are desperate for a cure.

UsAgainstAlzheimer’s is strongly opposed to any decreases in NIH research funding or in Alzheimer’s research budgets. Since its founding in 2010, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s has worked earnestly to double public funding for Alzheimer’s research at NIH and is calling upon Congress to increase – not reduce – NIH investment in Alzheimer’s research in FY 2017 and 2018.   

“We remain deeply troubled by the Administration’s attempts to undermine the recent progress that has been made to make cures and innovation in biomedical research and in Alzheimer’s research a higher national priority,” said UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Co-Founder and Chairman George Vradenburg.  “We will continue to work in a bipartisan way to fight back against budget cuts that will chill the efforts to cure Alzheimer’s disease, a disease that costs the nation today more than a quarter of a billion dollars per year. Developing a cure for this dreadful disease is essential to avoid the inevitably increasing costs of managing it.” 

The Administration’s FY 2017 and FY 2018 requests are at odds with the groundbreaking 21st Century Cures Act passed by Congress last year that sought to stimulate innovation in the development of new medicines. The President's request also is in conflict with measures approved last year by House and Senate appropriation sub-committees to increase FY 2017 Alzheimer’s annual funding by $350-$400 million to almost $1.4 billion.

The cost and impact of Alzheimer’s disease is far higher today and promises to grow dramatically in the coming years. Alzheimer’s researchers said in 2013 that the minimum level of annual funding to achieve the national goal of stopping Alzheimer’s by 2025 is $2 billion a year at NIH. That estimate, today, significantly underestimates the need for funding.

UsAgainstAlzheimer’s looks forward to reviewing more complete information on both FY 2017 and FY 2018 budgets, and will strongly oppose any budget action that slows the progress made possible by advocates, policymakers and researchers.       

###

UsAgainstAlzheimer's is an innovative, patient-centered non-profit demanding – and delivering – a solution to Alzheimer’s. Driven by the suffering of millions of families, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s presses for greater urgency from government, industry and the scientific community in the quest for an Alzheimer's cure – accomplishing this through its own patient-centered effective leadership, collaborative advocacy and strategic investments.

Founded in 2010, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s has worked across sectors to: (1) secure the national goal of preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer’s by 2025; (2) help secure nearly $1 billion in additional public funding for Alzheimer’s research over the past few years; (3) drive global efforts that resulted in the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations, the G7 group, to embrace a similar 2025 goal and to call for greater levels of research investment and collaboration; (4) transform the system of Alzheimer’s clinical trials for greater speed, efficiency and quality; and (5) forge a global process of industry, regulators and payers to bring greater clarity to the approval and payment of innovative medicines for Alzheimer’s.

Contact: Tim Tassa

Phone: 202-263-2580

Email: [email protected]