Cancer Moonshot

Cancer Moonshot is a United States government initiative that was founded and launched by then-Vice President Joe Biden in January 2016.

Cancer Moonshot

President Joe Biden gives a speech about Cancer Moonshot at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, September 2022.
Founder	Joe Biden
Headquarters	Washington, D.C., U.S.
Key people	Joe Biden Jill Biden
Website	cancermoonshot.gov

Origins and purpose

Vice President Joe Biden gives a speech about Cancer Moonshot at the White House, October 2016.

During Joe Biden's term as vice president, he founded and launched Cancer Moonshot under President Barack Obama, to support cancer research and enable progress in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

President Obama then later signed H.R. 34, the 21st Century CURES Act on December 13, 2016. The bill included $1.8 billion to support the Cancer Moonshot initiative.

The legislation also commits to combat the prescription opioid and heroin epidemic, as well as additional funds to support mental health reform and an improved drug development process. The bill was later renamed for the funding for the Cancer Moonshot in honor of Biden's eldest son, Beau Biden, who died from brain cancer in May 2015.