What to know about the National Cancer Plan

We have details on Biden’s National Cancer Plan—and why price controls may stop innovation in its tracks. Plus, everyone’s talking about AI, so we look at how biotech’s using it to make tasty protein alternatives. (499 words, 2 minutes, 29 seconds)

The National Cancer Plan is a great idea – but price controls could stall R&D

The Biden administration’s National Cancer Plan, released yesterday, seeks to coordinate government, research, and the biotech industry to cut cancer deaths in half by 2047—but we know looming price controls could stall new R&D anyway.

Part of Biden’s Cancer Moonshot initiative, the plan targets more and better cancer survival with eight goals: Prevent Cancer; Detect Cancers Early; Develop Effective Treatments; Eliminate Inequities; Deliver Optimal Care; Engage Every Person; Maximize Data Utility; Optimize the Workforce.

Who’s involved? Federal agencies, led by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and all other sectors of society. NCI’s research infrastructure includes cancer centers, clinical trial initiatives, the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, and data initiatives.

What’s the budget? While the National Cancer Plan doesn't come with new funding (per Axios), most of NCI’s $6.9 billion budget goes to “extramural” support for research, including “basic and clinical research,” which is then commercialized by the biopharmaceutical industry.

The biotech industry invests more than anyone in cancer research. In 2021, total U.S. cancer R&D spending was approximately $56.8 billion, with $44.8 billion from private sources and $11.9 billion from public sources, according to a University of Chicago report.

But price controls would reduce cancer R&D spending by 31%,almost 10 times the anticipated increase from the Cancer Moonshot, by dampening the appetite for investment.

The big picture: We’re all for more support for cancer research, and the NIH and NCI are valued partners of the U.S. biopharmaceutical industry in our quest to bring new innovations to patients. But looming price controls could keep the cancer moonshot from ever taking off.

AI enables synthetic proteins that really satisfy

Grab some plants, crunch some data, and create a recipe for alternative proteins—and other biotech innovations.

Great ideas, faster: “With the power of data, innovation that would take decades using a traditional trial-and-error approach can now take weeks,” Climax Foods boasts.

Hold the cow: Climax Foods’ machine learning method finds a molecular structure for plant-based cheese that gives the taste, texture, and protein of dairy cheese but with more nutrition and less fat. NotCo takes a similar approach to milk and beef.

AI in the kitchen: NotCo’s “AI chef” analyzes the structure of animal-based products and seeks similar components from the 300,000+ known edible plants. And researchers are using machine learning to predict factors like “hardness” and “chewiness” in synthetic meat.

From the kitchen to the bathroom cabinet: BIO member Amyris, a market-leading synthetic biotechnology firm, uses genetically modified yeast and fermentation to produce sustainable beauty products. Amyris’s Lab-to-Market platform incorporates AI and machine learning to enable speedy introduction and scaleup of innovative materials with broad market uptake.

Learn more: A recent episode of the I am BIO Podcast explores how AI can unlock new possibilities in the search for novel drugs, cures, and treatments—listen now.

President Biden's Tuesday: Meeting with the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in the White House to discuss the threats and possibilities of AI, according to Reuters.

What's Happening on Capitol Hill: Recess.