WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are more interested in biomedical research than ever, but with limited funds for nondefense spending, experts worry the National Institutes of Health could end up in competition with the new agency the Biden administration wants to build to confront the toughest problems.
The administration’s vision for a big and bold disease-curing agency — the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, known as ARPA-H — is finally coming to fruition at the same time President Joe Biden has relaunched the Cancer Moonshot, which has the goal of slashing the cancer death rate by at least 50% over the next 25 years.
Usually, this interest in medical research would be great news for the NIH as the appropriations season begins. But both projects require big financial outlays at a time the Republican-led House is demanding spending cuts in exchange for approval of an increase in the debt limit.
