House Panel Approves Bill to Keep Biomedical Unit Outside NIH

A bill to set up President Joe Biden’s new biomedical innovation hub as an independent HHS agency advanced Wednesday to the full House.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the measure (H.R. 5585) in a 53-3 vote. The bill, by Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.), would authorize the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), which aims to deliver medical breakthroughs in the same way that existing federal programs helped pave the way for the internet and GPS.

The committee adopted a substitute amendment that would require the Senate to confirm the head of ARPA-H. Eshoo said ...