President Trump Signs McCaul's Give Kids A Chance Act Into Law

WASHINGTON – Today, President Trump signed U.S. Congressman Michael McCaul's landmark pediatric cancer bill — the Mikaela Naylon Give Kids A Chance Act — into law. McCaul, co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Childhood Cancer Caucus, has championed the legislation tirelessly since he first introduced it in 2021. The bill, which Congress passed as part of its latest appropriations package, will accelerate pediatric cancer treatments and expand access to life-saving therapies for children battling rare diseases. 

“Today, we secured an enormous victory in the fight against childhood cancer — one that has been years in the making,” said Rep. McCaul. “Since I founded the Childhood Cancer Caucus in 2009, I've stood shoulder to shoulder with childhood cancer advocates, survivors, and patients who had one request: to give kids their best chance at beating cancer. Heartbreakingly, some of those brave young patients are no longer with us, including Mikaela Naylon, abeautiful teenage girl who spent her last months on this earth advocating for this bill. The Mikaela Naylon Give Kids A Chance Act will honor her legacy — and all of their legacies — by expanding children’s access to cutting-edge treatments and saving lives for years to come."

Background:

Each year, nearly 16,000 children in the United States are diagnosed with cancer. In fact, children comprise as many as half of those living with rare diseases, yet treatment options for children remain extremely limited compared to those for adults. The Mikaela Naylon Give Kids A Chance Act reauthorizes the Food and Drug Administration's priority review voucher (PRV) program — originally created under McCaul’s Creating Hope Act — which allows pharmaceutical companies to expedite FDA review of more profitable drugs in return for developing treatments for rare pediatric diseases. The program was notably used by Dr. James Allison at MD Anderson to obtain FDA approval for CAR-T immunotherapy.

Additionally, thousands of successful drug combination therapies are now being studied and developed for adults, but not for children. The Mikaela Naylon Give Kids A Chance Act also authorizes the FDA to direct companies to study combinations of cancer drugs and therapies in pediatric trials. 

Click here to read full text of the bill (page 937).

Click here to watch McCaul's recent floor speech honoring Mikaela's legacy and urging his colleagues to vote for the bill.

Click here to watch McCaul's recent interview with Spotlight on America about the inspiration behind his work to fight childhood cancer.

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