(Note: If you are a childhood cancer parent, family member and/or advocate and are not affiliated with a foundation but would like to show your support, please enter ADVOCATE where it asks for Foundation Name.)

The Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act 2.0. builds on the success of the original legislation which allocated $126 million over 10 years. Under the new bill, civil and criminal penalties collected from law-breaking pharmaceutical companies would be redirected to pediatric disease research.

Here’s how the act will create more research for childhood cancer and rare pediatric diseases: Under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, related companies under this act that violate its laws must pay fines. Under the new Kids First 2.0 Act, the fines are collected and transferred to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which funds the GMKF Pediatric Research Initiative Fund.
The fund was started 6 years ago as a result of the original Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act and so far has generated $75 million in research and data collection improvements and is expected to add $50 million more in the next 4 years. The new HR 6556 Gabriella Miller Kids First Act 2.0 is expected to generate much more funding.