Launching cancer moonshot, Biden says politics impeding cure

Vice president hopes to spend remainder of term fighting for cure

In this Jan. 12 file-pool photo, Vice President Joe Biden points at President Barack Obama during the president's State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington. Harking back to America's triumphant race into space, the Obama administration is launching what it calls a "moonshot" effort to cure cancer. Dont expect miracles in the president's last months, but there has been striking progress in recent years.

Cancer Moonshot News Ledb — In this Jan. 12 file-pool photo, Vice President Joe Biden points at President Barack Obama during the president's State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington. Harking back to America's triumphant race into space, the Obama administration is launching what it calls a "moonshot" effort to cure cancer. Dont expect miracles in the president's last months, but there has been striking progress in recent years.

PHILADELPHIA — Vice President Joe Biden launched a "moonshot" initiative Friday to hasten a cure for cancer, aiming to use his final year in office to break down barriers in the medical world he says are holding back progress on eradicating the dreaded disease. Biden chose Penn Medicine's Abramson Cancer Center in Philadelphia as his venue to call attention to the institute's pioneering efforts on immunotherapy, in which a patient's own immune system is deployed against cancer cells. After touring the facility's Center for Advanced Cellular Therapeutics, Biden sat down with doctors, researchers and academics to discuss recent advances.

Associated Press

Associated Press