billHR7104•Thursday, January 15, 2026Analyzed

Immediate Access for the Terminally Ill Act

Bullish

Impact6/10

$AMGN$GILD$REGN$VRTX$MRNA$PFEHealthcare

Summary

The Immediate Access for the Terminally Ill Act accelerates patient access to experimental treatments, directly benefiting pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies developing late-stage therapies. This bill expands the market for investigational drugs, increasing revenue potential for companies with promising pipelines.

Key Takeaways

1.HR7104 expands the market for investigational drugs to terminally ill patients.
2.Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with late-stage pipelines will see increased revenue potential.
3.The bill's referral to Ways and Means suggests a focus on payment mechanisms, enhancing financial impact.

Market Implications

This bill creates a new, albeit specialized, revenue stream for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Companies like Amgen ($AMGN), Gilead Sciences ($GILD), and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals ($REGN) will experience a bullish sentiment as their late-stage assets gain an accelerated path to market for a specific patient population. This directly increases the total addressable market for drugs currently in clinical trials, providing an earlier return on R&D investments.

Full Analysis

The Immediate Access for the Terminally Ill Act, HR7104, referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means, establishes a pathway for terminally ill patients to access investigational drugs that have completed Phase 1 clinical trials. This bill bypasses the traditional, lengthy FDA approval process for a specific patient population, effectively expanding the addressable market for drugs still in development. This is happening now because there is increasing public pressure and legislative interest in providing options for patients with no other treatment alternatives. Funding for these treatments will come from patient-specific or insurance-covered payments for the investigational drugs. The mechanism is direct procurement by patients or their insurers from pharmaceutical companies. Companies with a robust pipeline of late-stage experimental drugs, particularly those addressing rare diseases or conditions with high unmet medical needs, are positioned to capture this revenue. This creates an immediate, albeit niche, revenue stream for products not yet fully commercialized. Historically, similar 'Right to Try' legislation has seen mixed market reactions. When the federal Right to Try Act passed in May 2018, it provided a framework but lacked specific mechanisms for payment or broad insurance coverage, limiting its immediate market impact. However, companies with drugs already in late-stage trials, such as $AMGN and $GILD, saw minor positive sentiment shifts as the potential for earlier revenue generation emerged. This bill, by being referred to Ways and Means, indicates a potential focus on payment mechanisms, which could provide a more direct financial benefit than previous iterations. Specific winners include large pharmaceutical companies with extensive R&D pipelines like Amgen ($AMGN), Gilead Sciences ($GILD), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals ($REGN), and Vertex Pharmaceuticals ($VRTX). Smaller biotechnology firms with promising Phase 2/3 candidates, such as Moderna ($MRNA) and Pfizer ($PFE) with their oncology pipelines, also stand to gain. There are no direct losers from this legislation; rather, companies without late-stage experimental drugs will not benefit as much as those with them. The next step is for the House Committee on Ways and Means to consider the bill, potentially holding hearings and marking it up. A committee vote and subsequent floor vote would follow, with a timeline of 6-12 months for potential passage.