Point-of-Care Testing Prize Competitions Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6600 To authorize the Director of the National Institutes of Health to establish prize competitions to incentivize research by institutions of higher edu- cation on point-of-care testing for the detection of current or past infec- tion with COVID–19, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 23, 2020 Mr. BEYER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To authorize the Director of the National Institutes of Health to establish prize competitions to incentivize re- search by institutions of higher education on point-of- care testing for the detection of current or past infection with COVID–19, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Point-of-Care Testing 4 Prize Competitions Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Apr 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6600.IH H6600 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6600 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) Prize competitions have been used through- 3 out America’s history, dating back to the designing 4 of the United States Capitol Building in 1792. 5 (2) The America COMPETES Reauthorization 6 Act of 2010 granted authority for Federal agencies 7 to carry out prize competitions in order to stimulate 8 innovation to advance each agency’s mission. 9 (3) Prize competitions provide a benefit to the 10 American people by providing a high reward return 11 on taxpayer dollars. 12 (4) Since 2010, Federal agencies have con- 13 ducted nearly 1,000 prize competitions to help ad- 14 dress some of our Nation’s greatest challenges. 15 (5) In order to mitigate the spread of COVID– 16 19, Americans need access to rapid diagnostic test- 17 ing at the point of care. 18 (6) Point-of-care infectious disease tests provide 19 results in real time, rather than in hours or days. 20 (7) Infectious disease tests are useful in re- 21 source-limited situations where there may not be ac- 22 cess to a central lab or where infrastructure is lim- 23 ited for transporting samples. Infectious disease 24 tests at the point of care can also lead to prompter 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Apr 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6600.IH H6600 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6600 IH treatment, which can prevent infections from spread- 1 ing. 2 (8) Although other Federal agencies are cur- 3 rently involved in supporting and conducting re- 4 search into point-of-care testing, research spurred by 5 prize competitions at the National Institutes of 6 Health in consultation with the National Institute of 7 Standards and Technology can have broader benefits 8 for the American public. 9 (9) The National Institute of Standards and 10 Technology, due to its expertise in materials meas- 11 urement, including for DNA and other biological 12 materials, is well positioned to support the National 13 Institutes of Health in the development of reference 14 materials and best practices for the assessment and 15 validation of COVID–19 test results. 16 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PRIZE COMPETITION. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National In- 18 stitutes of Health, in consultation with the Director of the 19 National Institute of Standards and Technology, shall 20 carry out prize competitions pursuant to section 24 of the 21 Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 22 U.S.C. 3719) to incentivize research by institutions of 23 higher education on point-of-care testing for the detection 24 of current or past infection with COVID–19. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Apr 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6600.IH H6600 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6600 IH (b) REQUIREMENTS.—To be eligible for funding 1 under this section, the point-of-care testing subject to the 2 proposed research must be capable of— 3 (1) producing results in 30 minutes or less; and 4 (2) testing multiple samples simultaneously. 5 (c) TIMING.—The Director of the National Institutes 6 of Health shall— 7 (1) publicize at least one prize competition pur- 8 suant to subsection (a) within 30 days after the date 9 of enactment of this Act; and 10 (2) publicize additional prize competitions pur- 11 suant to subsection (a) as determined appropriate by 12 the Director. 13 (d) NIST ASSISTANCE.—The Director of the Na- 14 tional Institute of Standards and Technology shall provide 15 assistance to the Director of the National Institutes of 16 Health on developing validation protocols and standards 17 for testing developed pursuant to this section. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Apr 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6600.IH H6600 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS