Rare disease legislation clears speed bump 

Legislation seeking to reauthorize pediatric rare disease priority review vouchers scraped through a House subcommittee markup Thursday with far less momentum than will be needed to keep the program in business. Democrats and Republicans said they will work to iron out their differences so they can achieve the strong bipartisan endorsement from the full Energy & Commerce Committee that will be needed to overcome resistance in the Senate.

The House Energy & Commerce Committee’s health subcommittee combined the PRV extension with the Give Kids a Chance Act and the Retaining Access and Restoring Exclusivity (RARE) Act. The subcommittee passed the combination in a 16–11 vote. ...