Utah Hosts U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Field Hearing
July 12, 2024
The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee learned how lawmakers can enable and sustain innovation in life sciences from a panel of Utah witnesses, at a July 12 field hearing in Salt Lake City. Witnesses included BioUtah CEO Kelvyn Cullimore; Kasey DeLynn Shakespear, rural health champion and parent of a rare disease patient; Dr. Heloisa Soares, associate professor and medical director of clinical trials office at Huntsman Cancer Institute; and Frank Watanabe, president and CEO at Arcutis Biotherapeutics.
Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT), a member of the Committee, helped lead the discussion along with reps. Celeste Maloy (R-UT) and Burgess Owens (R-UT), who also participated. In addition to the hearing, nearly 20 life sciences companies showcased important contributions Utah makes to further health care innovation.
Discussion included proposals in legislation aimed at reversing problematic sections of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), tax policies designed to encourage research and innovation, and other policy measures supporting the biotech sector.
Cullimore, CEO of BioUtah, emphasized the significance of the life sciences industry in Utah, which employs over 182,000 people and has an annual economic impact exceeding $22 billion on the state. “From 2012 to 2022, the number of jobs in Utah’s life sciences industry increased by 5.1% per year on average versus 3.5% in other states, and 3.4% in other Utah industries,” said Cullimore. “Utah’s life sciences industry has been the third fastest growing bio innovation hub in the nation over the last decade.”
Cullimore urged Members of Congress to acknowledge the significance of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and to contemplate measures “to counter the current aggressive approach” taken by the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice, which “could inadvertently stymie pro-competitive M&A .”
“Looking ahead to 2024, this Committee is exploring how the tax code can better facilitate innovation, especially in the biotech industry,” said Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO).
Arcutis Biotherapeutics’ president, Frank Watanabe raised specific suggestions, including the R&D tax deduction, efforts to maintain and broaden Section 1202 to foster investment in small biotech firms, and initiatives aimed at improving the monetization of net operating losses (NOLs).
Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT) requested further details regarding NOLs. Cullimore said, “The NOL monetization concept is very important for early-stage companies because, as they’re doing research, they’re building up these losses. The ability to monetize those, either through a device of being able to market those like a tax credit can be marketed or to be able to utilize those like an earned income tax credit on a personal tax return, generates capital that further advances their work.”
The full hearing and written statements can be found here.