Washington, DC ― The New York Times reports that the Obama administration announced on February 1 that it hoped to spend $1 billion to fund a cancer “moonshot” in search of a cure.
But in the costly world of biological research, such a sum may be better described as a cancer slingshot, researchers said.
“The good news is that the budget is no longer being cut,” said Dr. Peter Adamson, the chairman of the Children’s Oncology Group, which conducts national clinical trials. “But we’re not going to the moon on $1 billion.”
But in the costly world of biological research, such a sum may be better described as a cancer slingshot, researchers said.
“The good news is that the budget is no longer being cut,” said Dr. Peter Adamson, the chairman of the Children’s Oncology Group, which conducts national clinical trials. “But we’re not going to the moon on $1 billion.”
The stated goal of the initiative is to spur a decade’s worth of advances in cancer research in five years.
The administration will ask for $755 million for cancer-related research in its budget for the 2017 fiscal year, officials said.
In addition, the initiative will help oversee $195 million in new funding provided to the National Institutes of Health for the current fiscal year.
But the administration has neither the time nor the money to come close to achieving its goal in an area in which major advances often take a decade and many billions to achieve. The administration’s $1 billion commitment is not enough to fund even half of the cost of a new cancer medicine, according to a widely cited estimate of drug development costs.
Still, the White House has made the effort a centerpiece of its agenda as it faces a recalcitrant Congress and a political season that has stolen much of the spotlight.
For the full New York Times story, click here.
The administration will ask for $755 million for cancer-related research in its budget for the 2017 fiscal year, officials said.
In addition, the initiative will help oversee $195 million in new funding provided to the National Institutes of Health for the current fiscal year.
But the administration has neither the time nor the money to come close to achieving its goal in an area in which major advances often take a decade and many billions to achieve. The administration’s $1 billion commitment is not enough to fund even half of the cost of a new cancer medicine, according to a widely cited estimate of drug development costs.
Still, the White House has made the effort a centerpiece of its agenda as it faces a recalcitrant Congress and a political season that has stolen much of the spotlight.
For the full New York Times story, click here.
