PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text: CR S3119)
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · May 22, 2025
Optimizing Research Progress Hope And New Cures Act or the ORPHAN Cures Act
This bill modifies certain provisions under the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program with respect to orphan drugs.
The Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to negotiate the prices of certain prescription drugs under Medicare beginning in 2026. Among other requirements, drugs must have had market approval for at least 7 years (for drug products) or 11 years (for biologics) to qualify for negotiation. The program does not apply to orphan drugs that are approved to treat only one rare disease or condition.
The bill modifies these provisions so as to exclude any period in which a drug was an orphan drug from market approval calculations. It also excludes orphan drugs that are approved to treat more than one rare disease or condition from the program.
People & committees
Sen. Barrasso, John [R-WY] · R–WY
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text: CR S3119)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Dec 5, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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