Experts call for VICP updates to bolster vaccine confidence

We recap yesterday’s hearing on the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (and BIO’s take on reform). Plus, it’s World Water Day—and we look at how biotech can address contamination and demand. (553 words, 2 minutes, 45 seconds)

Experts call for VICP updates to bolster vaccine confidence

The system for adjudicating and compensating complaints about vaccine-related injuries needs modernization to ensure patients' access to timely compensation and public confidence in vaccines, experts and lawmakers agreed at yesterday’s House Oversight Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic hearing.

Compensation conundrum: Patients experiencing harmful side effects may receive averages of nearly $500,000 in compensation for vaccines covered under the U.S. Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). However, COVID-19 vaccines are currently covered by the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP), which pays less and offers fewer legal protections, and is less patient centered overall.

COVID-19 vaccines should be covered by VICP to improve vaccine confidence, Renée Gentry of George Washington University Law School testified. Of 12,854 COVID-19 claims submitted to CICP, 11 have been compensated to date. In order for COVID-19 vaccines to be covered by VICP, an excise tax on the manufacturers must be passed by Congress, explained Gentry.

Bipartisan agreement: Ranking Member Raul Ruiz, M.D. (D-CA) and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, M.D. (R-IA) both asked about the importance of compensation in instilling vaccine confidence and called for faster compensation at appropriate levels.

BIO concurs: COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and Dengue fever vaccines should be added to VICP to ensure patients who have rare vaccine injuries have the opportunity to be fairly compensated.

How VICP could be modernized: Gentry said VICP, which was established in 1986, is outdated and overwhelmed, with only eight special masters to hear 3,618 open cases. She applauded reform bills such as H.R. 5142, sponsored by Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) and Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), and H.R. 5143, from Reps. Doggett and Mike Kelly (R-PA), which include important updates to the VICP program.

BIO’s view: "BIO strongly supports the passage of the excise tax to ensure that COVID-19, RSV, and Dengue vaccines are covered in the VICP program, as well as language supporting critical updates to ensure program integrity. Those who choose to be vaccinated and experience rare side effects should have access to a patient-centric program for timely compensation. A patient-friendly VICP program with adequate and timely compensation is critical to public confidence," says Phyllis Arthur, BIO's SVP of Infectious Disease and Emerging Science Policy.

World Water Day: As water supply shrinks and demand grows, biotech solutions are needed

With climate change and population growth adding to human pressures on the water supply, biotech solutions are more important than ever.

Water in numbers: The UN World Water Development Report 2024, released on World Water Day, notes agriculture is responsible for 70% of freshwater withdrawals, but most of the 1% growth in annual demand is due to industrial and domestic usage. A quarter of the world’s population faces extreme water stress.

The challenges: An episode of the I am BIO podcast explores challenges to water supply including contamination, overuse, and plastic pollution (and biotech solutions).

Controlling contamination: Joyn Bio, a joint venture of BIO members Bayer and Ginkgo Bioworks, bioengineers microbes to help corn, wheat, and rice crops fix nitrogen in the soil, replacing chemical fertilizers that cause nitrogen runoff.

Eliminating plastic: Biotech innovations include a polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biopolymer from Danimer Scientific and Virent’s “drop-in” biodegradable or compostable plastics. Meanwhile, Washington University scientists are genetically modifying bacteria to increase its ability to break down plastic.

Reducing use: Biotech innovators are producing drought-resistant crops, which require less irrigation.

What they’re saying: “People realize we have to do better,” Danimer’s Chief Marketing Officer Scott Tuten said on BIO’s podcast. “Do we have 50 years or a thousand years, there’s some point where we can’t turn it back. When is that? Nobody knows.”

President Biden’s Friday: Heading to Delaware this evening after a day with no official events scheduled.

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: With tonight’s deadline to shut down some government functions, Congress is expected to vote today on a “$1.2 trillion bipartisan spending package to fund the federal government for the next six months,” per The Washington Post.