• District of Columbia: HHS, though the National Cancer Institute, has launched a new $200 million initiative to establish public-private partnerships to fund clinical trials for cancer vaccines. The initiative will fund several different types of cancer vaccines, including mRNA vaccines, and target patients who have already been treated for cancer and are at a high risk of recurrence. So far, only a few cancer vaccines have been approved to treat or prevent cancer, but health officials hope the new initiative will help kick-start the field and encourage more involvement from the private sector, including from venture capital. "Nothing of this scale has been attempted in cancer vaccines before," said Stacey Adam, VP of science partnerships for the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. "This should be a huge launchpad for moving the field forward at a much-faster pace." (Gormley, Wall Street Journal, 3/17; Gregerson, Becker's Hospital Review, 3/18)
• Georgia: According to a new report published in NEJM Evidence, U.S. cigarette smoking rates declined to a historic low in 2024, falling to below 10% for the first time. For the study, researchers analyzed data from the 2023 and 2024 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), which asks Americans about their exercise habits, illnesses, access to care, and more. Based on the 2024 NHIS, 18.8% of U.S. adults, or approximately 47.7 million people, said they used at least one tobacco product. The most popular tobacco product was cigarettes, with 9.9% of adults reporting current smoking, followed by e-cigarettes (7%), cigars (3.7%), and smokeless tobacco (2.6%). Although millions of people still smoke cigarettes, this is the first time smoking rates have fallen below 10%. "In public health, the number 10% is very symbolic to us," said Israel Agaku, founder and CEO of the research technology company Chisquares and the study's author. "Things below 10% are considered rare events or unusual events." According to Agaku, the findings suggest that the United States is on track to reach the federal government's goal of reducing cigarette smoking prevalence to 6.1% by 2030, though there needs to be sustained public health efforts to continue the decline. (Malesu, News Medical, 3/15; Todd, STAT, 3/17)
• Maryland: FDA recently issued new draft guidance to allow drug manufacturers to use alternatives to animal testing and potentially get their products on the market more quickly. In a press release, FDA officials said the guidance supports the agency's commitment to replace animal testing and get safer, more effective treatments to market with clear validation expectations for alternative tests, or new approach methodologies (NAMs). Some examples of NAMs are complex and two-dimensional in vitro studies, three-dimensional models like organoids and spheroids, chemical reactivity studies, and computer simulations or in-silico modeling. "There is a great deal that NAMs can do in replacement and reduction on animal testing," said a senior FDA official. "This guidance will tell the readers that validation is not required for initial consideration. So while it provides the framework for validation, it also states that sponsors do not have to wait for their NAMs to be validated in order to use them in product development." (Frieden, MedPage Today, 3/18)

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