Good Day BIO: IRA climate investments and long COVID

Ending the week with BIO’s letter to President Biden explaining what needs to be done to bolster the Inflation Reduction Act’s historic climate investments, plus what we know—and don’t—about long COVID. (697 words, 3 minutes, 29 seconds)

What the government should do to bolster the IRA’s climate investments

The Biden administration is beginning implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which invests $369 billion in energy security and fighting climate change. But the government needs to do more to foster the development and deployment of pioneering technologies that are critical to meeting greenhouse gas reduction targets, says BIO. 

ICYMI: While the drug pricing provisions are expected to kill drug innovation and hamper development of new cures, the IRA contains historic investments in biotechnology like sustainable aviation fuels and tools to address the footprint of agriculture, as Bio.News reported.

But federal agencies need to take additional steps to complement these investments, BIO explains in a letter sent yesterday to President Biden.

These include steps to deploy biobased technologies and create more sustainable supply chains, such as…

• Educating procurement officers on the benefits of the BioPreferred® program;
• Developing North American Industry Classification System codes for renewable chemicals and biobased products; and
• Streamlining the application and review process for companies applying to the USDA Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program. 

And we need a regulatory system that allows for swift adoption by farmers and ranchers of “tools like precision plant breeding, biostimulants, microbial inoculants, and enhanced animal feed with enzymes,” says BIO—which requires agencies to issue long-delayed guidance and final rules for technology like gene edited crops.

We can’t forget carbon markets—and government can and should play a “catalytic role” in providing guidelines to farmers and ranchers there, too. 

What they’re saying: “There’s not a silver bullet to reducing greenhouse gas emissions or climate change. It’s going to be a continuous process, and our companies are constantly developing new products that need to find their way to the market, so we need to make sure that our regulatory system also fosters that,” BIO’s Erick Lutt told Bio.News. 

What do we know about long COVID?

Not much—but we’re learning more every day, about the impact of stress, the need for diagnostics, and the economic impact of ignoring it.

By the numbers: Around 16 million American adults have “long COVID,” and the condition is keeping as many as 2 to 4 million out of work, says Brookings' recent analysis of census data.

The impact of stress: “Psychological distress, including depression, anxiety, worry, perceived stress, and loneliness, before COVID-19 infection was associated with an increased risk of long COVID,” according to Harvard researchers.

Enter biotech: San Francisco-based biotech IncellDx has developed a blood test to identify patients with long COVID. The test is now available in Europe after receiving a CE-IVD mark from regulators, meaning the test meets European harmonized performance and safety standards, IncellDX recently announced.

Why it matters: “Many of the symptoms that are associated with long COVID, including fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath, insomnia, and a wide range of cardiovascular issues, can easily be mistaken for other conditions like post-Lyme, ME-CFS, Fibromyalgia, or even the common cold,” said IncellDx CEO Dr. Bruce Patterson. “An objective test that can detect immune signatures specific to long COVID is vital for effective diagnosis and to enable patients to seek effective treatment.”

More work needs to be done: “We need a spark, we need a philanthropic organization that has a risk tolerance much greater than NIH” to drive R&D, says University of Pennsylvania immunologist E. John Wherry, who has advised on NIH long COVID grants and is part of a new private initiative to bring $100 million to long COVID R&D.

The big picture: Long COVID could account for as much as 15% of ongoing labor shortages—and “the annual cost of those lost wages alone is around $170 billion a year (and potentially as high as $230 billion),” says Brookings.

More Health Care News:

Bloomberg: Pandemic readiness lobby draws biotech, government members
“The group, which will be called the Medical Countermeasures Coalition, or MC2, says it hopes to create sustained investment and a better market for pandemic preparations, which have often fallen victim to what is known as the cycle of ‘panic and neglect’ following emergencies.”

BioCentury: Congress risks long-term damage to the FDA
"As Congress returns from its annual August recess the familiar September task of reconciling the Federal budget before the end of the fiscal year is at hand. This year, however, during a compressed legislative session, a dire public health risk hangs in jeopardy."

President Biden’s Friday: Heading to Columbus, Ohio, where he’ll give remarks on rebuilding American manufacturing through the CHIPS and Science Act at the groundbreaking of a new Intel semiconductor manufacturing facility. 

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: Enjoy the weekend.