Bipartisan cosponsors in the US have introduced a new bill to the House of Representatives which, if passed, will see the creation of “Eye Bonds” to finance packages of loans totalling US$1 billion for new projects over four years in the pilot phase.
The aim of The Faster Treatments and Cures for Eye Diseases Act HR 6421 is to boost translational research, taking innovations “from bench to bedside” for all aspects of vision, including retinal diseases, cornea and optic nerve conditions, glaucoma, and eye injuries experienced by wounded veterans. The National Eye Institute (NEI) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) would investigate and evaluate programmes eligible for funding, although NIH would have no risk related to funding these projects.Underwriters would determine how many projects they would fund and at what amount, not to exceed US$250 million in any year.
Congressmen Pete Sessions, Fred Upton, Gus Bilirakis and Sanford Bishop sponsored Act. According to a press release from the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR), NAEVR President Dr Peter McDonnell recently sent a letter to the four cosponsors expressing strong support for the legislation and recognising their leadership role stating, “We commend each of you for having the ‘vision’ to create a new approach to making private eye and vision research funding dollars available that can result in new therapies to ensure the vision health of all Americans, thereby enabling productive, independent, and quality lives.”
