DeOndra Dixon INCLUDE Project Act of 2025

The DeOndra Dixon INCLUDE Project Act of 2025 (HR3491) was introduced in the House on May 19, 2025, and subsequently referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce. This bill aims to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out a program of research, training, and investigation related to Down syndrome, to be known as the 'INvestigation of Co-occurring conditions across the Lifespan to Understand Down syndromE Project' or the 'INCLUDE Project'. The bill is in an early legislative stage, having only been introduced and referred to committee. The bill itself does not appropriate any funds; rather, it authorizes the establishment of a program. This means that while it sets the policy framework for increased focus on Down syndrome research, actual funding would require a separate appropriations bill. The program elements outlined in the bill include high-risk, high-reward research, promoting research across the lifespan, expanding clinical trials, investigating biological mechanisms, improving diagnosis and treatment of co-occurring conditions, and research on improving quality of life. Companies involved in genetic sequencing, diagnostic services, and pharmaceutical development targeting neurological and developmental disorders are structurally positioned to benefit from future funding opportunities that may arise from this authorization. Companies such as Illumina ($ILMN) and Thermo Fisher Scientific ($TMO) are positioned to benefit from increased demand for genetic sequencing and research tools. Quest Diagnostics ($DGX) could see increased demand for diagnostic services. Pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer ($PFE), Eli Lilly and Company ($LLY), Biogen Inc. ($BIIB), and Merck & Co., Inc. ($MRK) could benefit from research into novel biomedical and pharmacological interventions and therapies for Down syndrome and co-occurring conditions like Alzheimer's disease. Currently, $ILMN has seen a 7-day change of +5.74%, $TMO a +1.7% change, $DGX a +0.91% change, $PFE a +0.22% change, $LLY a +4.56% change, $BIIB a -8.12% change, and $MRK a +2.33% change. These movements are independent of the bill's introduction, given its early stage and lack of appropriation. Given its early stage, the bill has a long legislative path ahead. It must pass through the Committee on Energy and Commerce, then potentially the full House, and then go through a similar process in the Senate before it could be signed into law. The bill has 18 cosponsors, including Ms. DeGette (D-CO-1), indicating some bipartisan support, which could aid its progression.