Good Day BIO: Why the ‘Cancer Moonshot’ might never take off

Busy Thursday, with updates on President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot, the possible extension of SBIR/STTR, and why National Women Physicians Day (today!) matters. (828 words, 4 minutes, 8 seconds)

Why the ‘Cancer Moonshot’ might never take off

President Biden has long been a champion of research to end cancer, a commitment reaffirmed yesterday with the relaunch of the “Cancer Moonshot.” However, achieving the goal requires biopharmaceutical innovation—which proposed policy could keep on the launchpad.

The Cancer Moonshot has three goals:

1. “reduce the death rate from cancer by at least 50 percent over the next 25 years”
2. “improve the experience of people and their families living with and surviving cancer”
3. “end cancer as we know it today”

“Though details are still forthcoming, BIO welcomes this initiative and stands united with the President’s goal of ending the untold human suffering from cancer,” says BIO's Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath. BIO looks forward to “working with the White House as it develops a long-term strategy, especially as it relates to understanding the effects of all healthcare policies on the development of future cancer cures.”   

More people are surviving and living longer after a cancer diagnosis,which the White House attributes to “progress on multiple fronts” including targeted therapies, immunotherapies, and the HPV vaccine—all made possible by biotech.

But policy proposals like drug price controls could "destroy the president’s inspiring cancer agenda,”says BIO Chair Paul Hastings, CEO of Nkarta Therapeutics, which is developing a new cell therapy to treat cancer.

“My own start-up might never have gotten off the ground under the kind of pricing scheme proposed in the Democratic legislation," he says. "Nor could many small companies continue their own moonshot-style projects."

The bottom line: President Biden should “reevaluate proposals that, instead of yielding moonshot cures, would cause those therapies to fizzle on the launchpad, leaving patients without hope or better options for the future,” he concludes—read the whole thing.

More Health Care News:

CRISPR Therapeutics and ViaCyte, Inc.: First patient dosed in phase 1 clinical trial of novel gene-edited cell replacement therapy for treatment of type 1 diabetes
“If this approach is successful, it will be a transformative treatment for patients with all insulin-requiring forms of diabetes,” says trial investigator Dr. James Shapiro. 

The Hill (Opinion): A punch to the gut for Alzheimer's patients and their loved ones
“CMS’s actions will have a significant impact on dementia research—and could dash Americans’ hopes for a cure. And this decision will hit vulnerable minority and other underrepresented populations especially hard,” writes BIO’s Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath.

Women are indispensable to biotech—yet they’re still underrepresented

From developing COVID-19 vaccines to advancing breakthroughs like carbon recycling and synthetic biology, women are indispensable to biotech. Yet, they’re still underrepresented in medicine and scientific research—and we could be losing a lot as a result.   

“On average, women account for 47% of total employees at member companies,” according to BIO’s Right Mix Matters report.

“While this overall data on gender representation seems to suggest the industry is approaching parity, a deeper look reveals that women become scarcer in the upper ranks. They make up less than a third (31%) of executive team members and only 23% of CEOs,” the report continues.

According to a recent study, “at least 40 fewer companies have been created at MIT alone due to poor gender representation in biotech,”says our reporter Clary Estes. “Spread those figures across the academic spectrum and that equals thousands of companies that never got to see the light of day, and therefore untold numbers of innovations, inventions, vaccines, and developments across the medical, agricultural, and industrial sectors.” 

The disparity extends to pay, too: “a study published in Health Affairs in December 2021 found that female physicians earn an estimated $2 million less than their male counterparts,” she continues.

BIO is addressing this head on, with initiatives like BIOEquality Agenda—though there’s much more work to be done.

Today is National Women Physicians Day, the birthday of Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first American woman to receive a medical degree. Read more about the work needed to be done to achieve gender parity in the industry and what you can do.

President Biden’s Thursday: After attending the National Prayer Breakfast, he headed to Manhattan with the attorney general, where they’ll meet with Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul to discuss gun violence at the NYPD HQ and a local school. 

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: The House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee will hold a hearing today at 10 AM ET on the FDA User Fee reauthorization—and BIO’s Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Cartier Esham will testify. We’ll have a full recap tomorrow. 

Also: the House is getting ready to vote on the extension of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer programs (STTR) as an amendment to the America COMPETES Act. The program's authorization will expire without legislative action, and the amendment would extend SBIR/STTR to 2027. BIO recognizes that the SBIR and STTR programs fund a diverse portfolio of startups and small businesses to stimulate technological innovation and increase commercialization to transition R&D into impact. Support for these programs to be extended is crucial as they are critical for early funding of biotech startups—so it’s a good time to contact your Member of Congress and urge them to support the amendment.