ASN and AAKP Advocates are on Capitol Hill Urging Congress to Support KidneyX
Newswise — Washington, DC (March 20, 2019) – Advocates from the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) are meeting with representatives, senators, and their respective staffs today to urge Congress to support KidneyX, a public-private partnership to accelerate innovation in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of kidney diseases.
“More than 40 million Americans are living with kidney diseases, including more than 700,000 with kidney failure, for which there is no cure. KidneyX is part of the solution to better serve all Americans with kidney diseases. We urge Congress to support KidneyX, which will jumpstart innovation through a series of prize competitions,” said Crystal A. Gadegbeku, MD, FASN, Chair of the ASN Policy and Advocacy Committee.
Richard Knight, MBA, President of AAKP, stated, “With more than 700,000 Americans living on dialysis and over 40 million others at risk, the time is now to disrupt the status quo in kidney care – as Secretary Alex Azar has already committed to doing after listening to patients – and accelerate the breakthrough innovations KidneyX and other HHS actions will catalyze in the kidney space. Absent innovation, kidney patients will continue to fall behind in their ability to fully realize their hopes and ambitions and will have fewer opportunities than other Americans to have a career, provide for their families or own a home.” Knight has managed kidney disease for over 15 years, including two years on dialysis and, for the past 13 years, as a kidney transplant recipient.
Medicare spends $35 billion to manage kidney failure, more than 7 percent of all Medicare spending. In order to bring better value to Medicare and improve patient outcomes, ASN and AAKP advocates are urging Congress to support KidneyX, a public-private partnership to seed, incent, and accelerate breakthroughs to promising new products for people with kidney diseases.
Founded in 2018, KidneyX is a designed to reduce the specific barriers that hinder innovation in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of kidney diseases, and catalyze private sector involvement in ways that are not currently addressed by the public and private sectors. KidneyX will initially focus on the development and commercialization of next-generation dialysis products, and will later expand to include diagnostics, other devices, medications, and patient-centered tools to more effectively and efficiently manage kidney diseases.
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Since 1966, ASN has been leading the fight to prevent, treat, and cure kidney diseases throughout the world by educating health professionals and scientists, advancing research and innovation, communicating new knowledge, and advocating for the highest quality care for patients. ASN has more than 20,000 members representing 131 countries. For more information, please visit www.asn-online.org or contact the society at 202-640-4660.
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