Biden details efforts to end cancer on anniversary of famous 'Moonshot' speech


President Biden delivered his "Cancer Moonshot" address in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston on Monday, discussing his goal of cutting the U.S. cancer death rate in half over the next quarter-century. This speech comes on the 60th anniversary of Kennedy's famous "moonshot speech" about his goal of putting a man on the moon.
In his speech, Biden announced Dr. Renee Wegrzyn as the inaugural Director of Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), a new agency created to drive biomedical innovation. He also signed an executive order to launch a National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative, an initiative to grow the strength and diversity of domestic biomanufacturing capacity. Biden also emphasized his efforts to lower prescription drug costs, including cancer drugs, through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
The Cancer Moonshot was originally launched when Biden was vice president under the Obama administration. He relaunched the initiative in Feb. 2022 as president. It has been an initiative that the president has personally been invested in, especially after losing his son, Beau Biden to an aggressive form of brain cancer in 2015.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Cancer does not discriminate," Biden said. "Beating cancer is something we can do together."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Devika Rao has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022, covering science, the environment, climate and business. She previously worked as a policy associate for a nonprofit organization advocating for environmental action from a business perspective.
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the right
Speed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shot
Speed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
Human evolution may be responsible for autism rates
Under the radar Neurodiversity and a complex brain may go hand in hand
-
Scientists are speeding up evolution
Under the radar Proteins can evolve in minutes
-
A new subtype of diabetes was found and it may require different treatment
Under the radar It is prevalent in Black Africans and Americans
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreak
Speed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agency
Speed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Food may contribute more to obesity than exercise
Under the radar The devil's in the diet