Researchers take stock of the US$1.8-billion initiative’s first five years as Biden announces ambitious target.
Credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty
US President Joe Biden announced on 2 February that he would renew the US Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot Initiative — a $1.8-billion cancer research programme that began 5 years ago and was slated to run for another 2 — with a fresh target of decreasing cancer deaths by at least 50% in the next 25 years. Becich saw a goal, albeit a lofty one, that he could get behind. “Here’s a politician trying to understand the science,” he says. “And I applaud him for what he wants to do with it.
Still, the NCI found room to launch more than 240 projects covering a wide spectrum of cancer research. Moonshot programmes are studying therapies that stimulate the immune system to fight paediatric cancers, and are compiling 3D atlases of tumour cells as they progress from precancerous lesions to advanced disease. There are programmes to address disparities in access to health care, and to improve the implementation of best clinical practices after they have been identified in clinical trials.
Biden’s decision to renew the moonshot — if it is accompanied by significant funding — could allow the NCI to delay the difficult task of shutting down projects linked to the initiative. As of December, about two-thirds of the funded projects had expressed interest in continuing past the original end of the moonshot, Singer told NCI advisers.
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