Legislation to restore immediate R&D expensing passed the House by 357-70 yesterday. Following the vote, BIO's Chief Advocacy Officer, Nick Shipley, made the following statement:  "The bipartisan legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives this week is a big step forward for U.S. innovation. Since 2022, American businesses have been stifled by a law that prohibited them from deducting R&D expenses in the same taxable year. Instead, these companies were forced to amortize deductions over a 5-year span, creating a massive financial barrier for smaller, pre-commercial and start-up companies with significant R&D costs.  "Innovation in any field is a difficult feat. It's especially tedious in the biotech industry, which requires hundreds of millions of dollars and years of hard work before early-stage research ever benefits Americans in the form of a tangible products and therapies. "By removing existing financial barriers to life-saving and life-enhancing R&D, the bill passed by the House – if passed in the Senate – will help small biotech companies and researchers in their ongoing efforts to develop new medicines and therapies. BIO looks forward to working with our member companies and lawmakers in the Senate to get this bill across the finish line and ensure the R&D pipeline remains strong and continues churning out the cures of tomorrow for patients."