Frank Burroughs of Falls Church, founder of the Abigail Alliance in memory of his daughter aimed at winning accelerated access to promising experimental cancer therapies, claimed a “big victory” this week with the passage of legislation added to the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act reauthorization.

After 11 years of effort, Burroughs reported this week that the new legislation includes numerous provisions that are part of the Abigail Alliance’s mission, such as accelerated access to new therapies, expedited drug approval and delivery to market, use of modern scientific tools in new drug reviews and approvals, enhanced patient engagement and involvement, increased FDA access to scientific and medical experts, and better patient-centered benefit-risk decision making provisions regarding patients fighting for their lives.