A bipartisan group of members of the Senate Health Committee introduced a bill to increase National Institutes of Health research into non-opioid pain treatments.

The Advanced Cutting-Edge Research Act would give the National Institutes of Health more authority to accelerate research on non-addictive pain treatments. Committee chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) co-sponsored the bill with Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH).

The legislation also would allow the NIH more flexibility to collaborate with companies developing innovative technologies aimed at addressing the opioid crisis.