Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Reauthorization Act of 2026
Latest action. Held at the desk.
Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Reauthorization Act of 2026
This bill reauthorizes through FY2031 and revises programs that support research and development of drugs and other therapies to address amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) and other neurodegenerative diseases.
The bill reauthorizes
grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for scientific research on investigational drugs to prevent or treat ALS for individuals not otherwise eligible for clinical trials,
grants from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for research and development of therapies to prevent and treat ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases, and
a Public-Private Partnership including the FDA and NIH that supports development and regulatory review of treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.
Also, the bill revises the NIH grants to require (1) the NIH, in considering grant renewal, to assess available information on the safety and efficacy of the investigational drugs; (2) grantees to promptly report available safety data from ongoing clinical trials; and (3) the NIH to determine the timeframe for enrollment in clinical trials for the investigational drugs.
Additionally, every five years, the FDA must publish a plan describing actions it will take over a five-year period to foster development of safe and effective drugs, and facilitate access to investigational drugs, for ALS and other rare neurodegenerative diseases. Each plan must include the FDA's previous actions and recommendations for improvements.
Finally, the Government Accountability Office and the Department of Health and Human Services must report on the impacts of these grants.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to Senate" stage on July 16, 2026. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Held at the desk.
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The record's latest action, on August 10, 2026: Held at the desk.
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In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one has no outstanding steps listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
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Who is behind it?
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced it on April 30, 2026, and 15 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 8 Democrats, 7 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on April 30, 2026, 133 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 31 days ago, on August 10, 2026.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 119th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2027 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
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Vote history
- SenateHeld at the desk.
- HouseNot stated in the latest action
- PresidentNot stated in the latest action