H.R. 946 · 119th Congress

ORPHAN Cures Act

Introduced on Feb 4, 2025 by John Joyce (R-PA-13). 18 cosponsors, 9 of them from another party. Latest action (Feb 6, 2025): Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H535-536)

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
Feb 4, 2025
Cosponsors
18
9 from the other party
Policy area
Health
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Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. 2Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to expand and clarify the exclusion for orphan drugs under the Drug Price Negotiation Program.

Subjects

  • Health care costs and insurance
  • Medicare
  • Prescription drugs

Summary

The Congressional Research Service has not summarized this measure yet.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

John JoyceR-PA-13Sponsor

Democrats · 9

Republicans · 9

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Feb 4, 2025Introduced in House
  2. Feb 4, 2025Introduced in House
  3. Feb 4, 2025 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  4. Feb 4, 2025 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  5. Feb 6, 2025Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H535-536)

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. ALNYLAM PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.21 reports
  2. INCYTE CORPORATION17 reports
    $2.9M reported (all issues)
  3. AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP14 reports
    $9.1M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: ASTRAZENECA PHARMACEUTICALS LP$500 in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  4. Travere Therapeutics12 reports
    $1.1M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: TRAVERE THERAPEUTICS, INC.$323.9K in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  5. JOHNSON & JOHNSON SERVICES, INC.11 reports
    $13.3M reported (all issues)
  6. ALKERMES, INC.10 reports
    $4M reported (all issues)
  7. BIOTECHNOLOGY INNOVATION ORGANIZATION10 reports
    $5.6M reported (all issues)
  8. IONIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.10 reports
    $460K reported (all issues)
  9. Daiichi Sankyo, Inc.9 reports
    $1.3M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: DAIICHI SANKYO, INC$205.9K in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  10. EMD SERONO, INC.9 reports
    $3.8M reported (all issues)
  11. JAZZ PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.9 reports
    $2.6M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: JAZZ PHARMACEUTICALS, INC$369.3K in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  12. NOVARTIS CORPORATION7 reports
    $13.1M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: NOVARTIS PHARMACEUTICALS CORPORATION$36.2M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  13. PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH & MANUFACTURERS OF AMERICA7 reports
    $57.5M reported (all issues)
  14. ACADIA PHARMACEUTICALS6 reports
    $3.6M reported (all issues)
  15. ALEXION PHARMACEUTICALS INC.6 reports
    $400K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: ALEXION PHARMACEUTICALS INC$733.6K in contracts, FY2026AI match · 99%
  16. AMERICA'S HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS, INC. (AHIP)6 reports
    $25.6M reported (all issues)
  17. CALIFORNIA LIFE SCIENCES6 reports
  18. GSK (fka GLAXOSMITHKLINE INC.)6 reports
    $7.4M reported (all issues)
  19. LUNDBECK LLC6 reports
    $930K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: LUNDBECK LLCAI match · 99%
  20. NEUROCRINE BIOSCIENCES, INC.6 reports
    $5.5M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: NEUROCRINE BIOSCIENCES, INC.AI match · 100%
  21. PTC THERAPEUTICS, INC.6 reports
    $1.2M reported (all issues)
  22. BeOne Medicines USA, Inc. (fka BeiGene USA, Inc.)5 reports
    $350K reported (all issues)
  23. MERCK & CO., INC.5 reports
    Federal contractor: MERCK SHARP & DOHME LLC$445.3K in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  24. Patients Rising Now5 reports
    $30K reported (all issues)
  25. TAKEDA PHARMACEUTICALS AMERICA, INC.5 reports
    $4.6M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: TAKEDA PHARMACEUTICALS AMERICA, INC.$1.6M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  26. UCB, INC.5 reports
    $950K reported (all issues)
  27. AMGEN INC.4 reports
    $6.2M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: AMGEN INC.AI match · 99%
  28. HealthCare Institute of New Jersey4 reports
    $185.1K reported (all issues)
  29. Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and its subsidiaries, including Greenwich Biosciences4 reports
    $160K reported (all issues)
  30. RARE DISEASE COMPANY COALITION4 reports
    $280K reported (all issues)
  31. SOLENO THERAPEUTICS, INC.4 reports
    $200K reported (all issues)
  32. BIOGEN INC.3 reports
    $3.5M reported (all issues)
  33. BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM USA CORPORATION3 reports
    $2.5M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM ANIMAL HEALTH USA INC$3.5M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 99%
  34. CHRONIC CARE POLICY ALLIANCE3 reports
    $40K reported (all issues)
  35. Personalized Medicine Coalition3 reports
    $133K reported (all issues)
  36. Public Citizen3 reports
    $275.2K reported (all issues)
  37. Astellas Pharma US, Inc.2 reports
    Federal contractor: ASTELLAS PHARMA US, INC.AI match · 100%
  38. Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO)2 reports
    $120K reported (all issues)
  39. CHIESI USA, INC.2 reports
  40. Families USA Foundation, Inc.2 reports
    $37K reported (all issues)

Reports filed in 2025, 2026.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 6, 2026 · loaded Oct 6, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 6, 2026 · loaded Oct 6, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.