Biden To Roll Out ‘Down-Payment’ Cancer Initiatives At Moonshot Summit
The new efforts to be announced at the daylong summit can be seen as the beginning of the new discussion around cancer, and represent “down payments on actions that we can achieve this year,” says Greg Simon, the executive director of Biden’s cancer effort.
The Associated Press:
Biden Hosting Cancer Summit To Try To Accelerate Research
Vice President Joe Biden will try to give efforts to cure cancer a jolt during a summit in Washington that's casting a spotlight on research and innovative trials taking place across the country. Scientists, oncologists, donors and patients planned to gather Wednesday at Howard University for the daylong event, with thousands more participating at related events across the country, the White House said. Comedian Carol Burnett, whose daughter died of cancer, was to introduce Biden and stay to emcee the summit. (Lederman, 6/29)
Stat:
Biden To Unveil Effort To Speed Researchers’ Access To Cancer Drugs
The Obama administration on Wednesday is rolling out a series of initiatives to build momentum for cancer research, announcing that it will try to expedite scientists’ access to experimental drugs for research purposes and partner with foundations and the private sector to fund more “precompetitive” studies. (Nather, 6/29)
The Wall Street Journal:
Public-Private Partnerships Aim To Bolster ‘Cancer Moonshot’ Initiative
Vice President Joe Biden announced a series of partnerships involving government, industry and academia that are aimed at bolstering the White House’s proposed $1 billion “cancer moonshot” to speed up the national fight against the disease. The alliances were disclosed Wednesday at the outset of more than 270 events around the country to kick off the cancer effort, including a meeting at Howard University in Washington, D.C., billed as the Cancer Moonshot Summit. Mr. Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, were scheduled to speak, as was Greg Simon, executive director of the Cancer Moonshot Task Force. (Burton, 6/29)
Morning Consult:
Biden To Announce Public-Private Partnerships For Cancer Moonshot
Nearly 400 researchers, cancer doctors, advocates and officials will gather in Washington, D.C., Wednesday as Vice President Joe Biden announces new steps as part of the White House’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative. ... The task force is expected to issue a report by the end of this year about how it will proceed. This summit could start looking toward that blueprint. (McIntire, 6/28)
Politico Pro:
White House Launches New Cancer Moon Shot Efforts
The White House rolled out its first round of cancer moon shot initiatives ahead of a summit Wednesday, outlining the first concrete projects of a government-wide push to achieve 10 years’ worth of progress against the disease in five years. The efforts led by Vice President Joe Biden span federal agencies from the departments of Energy, Commerce and Veterans Affairs to the NIH and FDA. They range from unleashing the government’s supercomputing power on massive health care data sets to redesigning a website to help patients who are looking for clinical trials. The moon shot initiative is also touting a number of private sector efforts. (Norman, 6/29)
The Washington Post:
The World’s Smartest Computer Will Help Treat 10,000 Veterans With Cancer
IBM's supercomputer Watson, known for its "Jeopardy" prowess, is teaming up with the Department of Veterans Affairs to try to revolutionize cancer care for veterans. The VA-IBM partnership is one of dozens of initiatives being announced Wednesday as part of Vice President Biden's all-day cancer summit at Howard University. Other efforts aim to sharply increase the number of patients in clinical trials, harness the government's computing power to pave the way for better "precision medicine" therapies and rejigger the way officials handle approvals of cancer-related products. (McGinley, 6/29)