Joe Biden plans to work on lowering cancer drug prices


Through the new nonprofit organization he will lead when his time at the White House is over, Vice President Joe Biden wants to start a "national conversation" about the high price of cancer drugs.
On Wednesday, Biden said his goal is to "get Congress and advocacy groups in to make sure these treatments are accessible for everyone, including these vulnerable underserved populations, and that we have a more rational way of paying for them while promoting innovation." His son, Beau, died of brain cancer in May 2015, and Biden was tasked by President Obama to head the administration's "cancer moonshot" initiative. The nonprofit will be based in either Washington, D.C., or Wilmington, Delaware, and will focus on "moonshot" issues, like increasing participation in clinical trials and encouraging cancer researchers to share their data. Biden said he also wants to reduce racial disparities in cancer diagnosis and treatment.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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