Federally Funded Cancer Research is Under Threat

Health and Human Services and National Institutes of Health:

Pillars of Global Biomedical Innovation

For decades, the United States has been the world's biomedical leader - by a mile. That leadership didn't happen overnight, and it wasn't led by private, for-profit companies. The cornerstone of our biomedical innovation has been spearheaded by federal investment in research labs at research institutions across the country, along with federal grants to recruit and educate the country's and world's most promising scientific minds. Gutting the National Institutes of Health and other agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) could devastate the cornerstone of our entire research establishment, including the pharmaceutical industry, which heavily relies on federally funded research before determining what medicines to develop.

• NIH has an annual budget of nearly $48 billion, making it the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world. Even so, NIH's total budget is less than 1% of U.S. federal spending, and for every $1 invested in NIH research, there is a $2.56 economic return on investment to the U.S. economy in patents and jobs created. 
• 83% of NIH's budget is invested in research conducted outside of NIH facilities, typically at universities.
• NIH grants often allow researchers to focus on scientific problems for 4+ years without the need to raise further funds. This approach provides freedom and stability that is not typically available in industry or other countries.
• NIH funding contributed to basic or applied research for 99.7% of all FDA-approved treatments between 2010 and 2019.
• All lung cancer drugs approved in the past 15 years have been supported by NIH funding directly or indirectly.  

Threats to Our Biomedical Research Establishment

Executive Orders

In February, the Trump Administration unilaterally announced that Indirect Cost Rates (ICRs) for all NIH grants would be capped at 15%. ICRs are commonly significantly higher than 15%, covering expensive lab equipment, hazardous waste disposal, support staff, medical residents' wages and more. ICRs ensure continuous operating of labs. The 15% ICR cap violates U.S. federal statute, which mandates  that ICRs are to be negotiated directly between NIH and research grantees.

Separate lawsuits have been filed by 22 state attorneys general, along with universities, hospitals, and research institutions nationwide. The plaintiffs have sought and obtained from a federal judge a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on the ICR cuts while the lawsuits proceed. Executive orders are limited by the Constitution and cannot violate federal law. They can be challenged in court and overturned if deemed unconstitutional or that the president exceeded their authority, which is limited by the co-equal authority of the legislative and judicial branches.

Congressional Elimination of 100% of 2025 Lung Cancer Research Budget Under the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program

Last month every House Republican but one and every Republican Senator voted to cut the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) by 57%.  When it then came time to determine how to allocate those cuts, they determined that lung cancer research should go from $25 million in 2024 to ZERO in 2025. Kidney and pancreatic cancer, glioblastoma, and Alzheimer's research budget were totally eliminated too.

Mass Federal Workforce Firings and Funding Cuts

The Trump administration began sending notices of termination to thousands of staffers at federal health agencies on April 1. The administration has announced it plans to dismiss 10,000 HHS employees. On April 2, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement that the layoffs were intended to reduce "bureaucratic sprawl." Agency staff and leaders in the field say the cuts are a profound blow to public health, medicine, and biomedical research in the U.S. 

On April 3, the Trump administration announced that DHHS will also cut spending on contracts by 35%. The cuts apply to contracts applies across all divisions of HHS – including CDC and NIH.

LUNGevity Foundation, longtime RETpositive partner, issued a statement expressing their "deep concern regarding the recent budget and staffing cuts at agencies within DHHS, which threaten to have a devastating impact on lung cancer research and the progress that has been made in improving patient outcomes." LUNGevity further noted that "lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, and despite significant advances in research and treatment, there is still much more to be done."

"Lung cancer does not discriminate and impacts all Americans – no matter who you are and where you live," said Dr. Upal Basu Roy, PhD, MPH, Executive Director of LUNGevity research. "Science and research have always been a tool for advancing live-saving technologies and treatments. We must act now and in solidarity to remind policymakers that research cannot stop! Because patients and their families should not have to wait for new technologies and treatments."

Take Action: What We Can do

Together we can raise public awareness about our what the U.S. biomedical system does to advance cancer research and treatments + make sure lawmakers know that the cancer community is paying attention to how they respond to these threats.