Sen Tom Harkin (D, Iowa) and Sen Lamar Alexander (R, Tenn) introduced a bill in November to speed the development of Ebola treatments and vaccines. The legislation would add Ebola to the list of neglected tropical diseases qualifying for the Food and Drug Administration鈥檚 (FDA) priority review 鈥渧oucher鈥� program, designed to encourage the development of new drugs for such illnesses.

Under the program, first authorized by Congress in 2007, the developer of a treatment for a qualifying tropical disease receives a voucher that can be used for FDA priority review of a second product or sold to another company.

鈥淥nce signed into law, this bill will strengthen our response to Ebola and help innovators continue their work to develop these critical products,鈥� Harkin, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said in a statement.