The bill seeks to reauthorize the Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act until 2031 and improve the grant program for ALS research by extending grant renewals, requiring prompt reporting of adverse events from trial sponsors, and refining the definition of participating clinical trials. Additionally, it proposes the development of an FDA rare neurodegenerative disease action plan, outlining the agency’s intended actions over a 5-year period. This plan must be published within 18 months of the bill's enactment, and a report assessing its implementation will be released within 5 years.
Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Reauthorization Act of 2026
This bill reauthorizes through FY2031 and revises programs that support research and development of drugs and other therapies to address amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) and other neurodegenerative diseases.
The bill reauthorizes
- grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for scientific research on investigational drugs to prevent or treat ALS for individuals not otherwise eligible for clinical trials,
- grants from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for research and development of therapies to prevent and treat ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases, and
- a Public-Private Partnership including the FDA and NIH that supports development and regulatory review of treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.
Also, the NIH, in considering renewal of its grants, must assess available information on the safety and efficacy of the investigational drugs. It must also require grantees to promptly report serious and unexpected adverse events associated with their investigational drugs.
Additionally, the FDA must publish a plan describing actions it will take over a five-year period to foster development of safe and effective drugs, and facilitate access to investigational drugs, that treat ALS and other rare neurodegenerative diseases. The FDA must also publish a report describing the actions it has taken under the plan.
