Last week, Colorado Bioscience Association (CBSA) Vice President and Counsel for Policy + Advocacy, Amy Goodman, joined state leaders as part of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) Council of State Bioscience Associations (CSBA) 2025 Fly-In in Washington, D.C., to engage with Congressional offices and emphasize the critical need for strong federal health agencies, sustained investment in scientific research, and policies that support a thriving life sciences ecosystem. Our message is clear: health innovation depends on continuity, expertise, scientific rigor, a resilient and robust supply chain, and consistent sources of funding.

Amy was joined by Bigyan Bista, Senior Vice President of Business Strategy & Development at Enveda. Together, they shared data and stories about Colorado’s life sciences ecosystem and the value it brings to patients and to the state of Colorado. They visited the offices of:

• Sen. Michael Bennet
• Sen. John Hickenlooper
• Rep. Joe Neguse
• Rep. Diana DeGette
• Rep. Brittany Pettersen

Amy and Bigyan shared exciting updates about the growth of the life sciences ecosystem in Colorado with Colorado’s Congressional delegation, but also highlighted the current concerns and fears of the ecosystem, along with addressing some of the top priorities of CBSA members.

Thank you to the staffs of Sen. Michael Bennet, Sen. John Hickenlooper, Rep. Joe Neguse, Rep. Diana DeGette, and Rep. Brittany Pettersen for speaking with CBSA. Thank you also to our partners at BIO and the Council of State Bioscience Associations for their leadership and collaboration in advancing policies that strengthen the life sciences ecosystem nationwide. Together, we will continue advocating for policies that fuel scientific breakthroughs, promote public health, and drive economic growth.

The topics CBSA discussed included:

• Concerns about Federal Funding Cuts, Agency Layoffs, and Other Federal Actions: Trump Administration Executive Orders on federal funding for research and clinical trials; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI); and international aid have caused disruption and uncertainty for life sciences, along with extensive federal layoffs and tariffs. Companies and academic and research institutions are grappling with frozen funding, suspended clinical trials, limited access to vital health data, and critical staffing changes at federal health and regulatory agencies. In 2024, Colorado companies and academic and research institutions received close to $500M in federal grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) supporting life sciences research and development. Suspended or reduced federal funding is a major blow to our state’s leadership in health innovation. More than 40 companies and organizations, including all five of Colorado’s R-1 designated research universities and the country’s leading respiratory hospital received federal funding last year.

• Reauthorization of SBIR/STTR Programs: The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs help translate cutting-edge discoveries into real-world solutions, driving economic growth, creating jobs, and improving public health. Congress must reauthorize the program by September 30, 2025. CBSA emphasized that federal funding provides critical capital for research and development at private companies and academic and research institutions and, in many cases, NIH and NSF grant dollars are deployed through the SBIR/STTR programs.

• The Need to Restore Immediate R&D Expensing: Members of CBSA continue to be very concerned about the 2022 change to Section 174 of the Internal Revenue Code that required businesses to amortize “research and experimentation” expenses over five years for domestic expenditures and over 15 years for foreign expenditures. CBSA thanked the members of Colorado’s Congressional delegation who supported the American Innovation and R&D Competitiveness Act of 2023 and urged them to push for passage of the 2025 Act (H.R.1990) this year, which would restore the immediate expensing of R&D expenditures, removing a tax on innovation.

• Fixes for Some of the Ongoing Concerns with the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA): CBSA members continue to have significant concerns about the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on investments in innovation, but there are two bills that would mitigate the negative impact of the IRA on patients and innovation.
  • First, the Optimizing Research Progress Hope and New (ORPHAN) Cures Act (H.R.946) would help to protect the incentives necessary for drug manufacturers to research and develop treatments for rare diseases by amending the IRA to ensure orphan drugs treating one or more rare diseases or conditions are excluded from Medicare price negotiations. By passing this legislation, Congress can encourage follow-on investment into orphan drug development and preserve hope for millions of Americans living with a rare disease or condition.
  • Second, the Ensuring Pathways to Innovative Cures (EPIC) Act (H.R.1492), would fix the small molecule “pill penalty,” ensuring protections from price controls for small molecules are increased to the same as those for large molecules.

• Other Continuing Priorities: CBSA also discussed other continuing priorities, including PBM reform, 340B reform, the Multi-Cancer Early Detection (MCED) Screening Coverage Act,  reauthorization of the rare pediatric disease priority review voucher (PPRV) program, the Pioneering Antimicrobial Subscriptions to End Upsurging Resistance (PASTEUR) Act, the Verifying Accurate Leading-edge IVCT Development (VALID) Act, intellectual property protections, and the Ensuring Patient Access to Critical Breakthrough Products Act.

CBSA’s Advocacy Efforts

Policy + Advocacy leadership for life sciences is critical at both the state and federal levels. The CBSA Policy + Advocacy team is proud to collaborate with members, partners, and policymakers to advocate for policies that protect patient access to needed therapies and technologies and support a pro-innovation environment for life sciences (see CBSA’s Policy Priorities). 

To get involved with CBSA’s advocacy efforts or talk about your concerns, perspective, or position on a bill, please contact CBSA’s Vice President and Counsel for Policy + Advocacy, Amy Goodman.