Tech Billionaire Sean Parker Pledges $250 Million For Cancer Research
STANFORD (KPIX 5) – In a potential game-changer in the fight against cancer, the top minds in the field are coming together for a first-of-its-kind collaboration, with the help of Bay Area tech billionaire Sean Parker.
The billionaire has pledged $250 million to create the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, which will be based in San Francisco.
It took Parker three years to convince all the major players to sign on. But now, the top six cancer research centers, including Stanford and UCSF are on board. Pharmaceutical giants including Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Genentech are also part of the collaboration.
Currently, cancer research is siloed, with scientists and companies fiercely protective of their work. The institute would help the academic world negotiate with industry to help bring therapies to the patient and to the market faster.
Immunotherapy is one of the major advances in cancer treatments, which hacks the body's own immune system to attack cancer cells.
Parker himself suffers from asthma and allergies, and has family with autoimmune disorders.