Rare cancers need a Silicon Valley approach to investment - FT中文網
登錄×
電子郵件/用戶名
密碼
記住我
請輸入郵箱和密碼進行綁定操作:
請輸入手機號碼,透過簡訊驗證(目前僅支援中國大陸地區的手機號):
請您閱讀我們的用戶註冊協議私隱權保護政策,點擊下方按鈕即視爲您接受。
醫療科學

Rare cancers need a Silicon Valley approach to investment

Innovative models can drive funding for research on neglected, less survivable diseases
00:00

The writer is a former president of Imperial College London

During my time at Imperial College London, Stanford, MIT and Pennsylvania’s Lehigh, I have seen the positive impact of the work done by some of the greatest researchers in the world and how it can improve people’s lives. But the benefits of such work came into starker view for me when I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2021.

Under-investment in research on this disease has contributed to a shocking survival rate. Sadly, there are several other cancers — including those of the brain, liver, stomach, oesophagus and lung — that have also been left behind, with dismal survival rates below 25 per cent. Known as less survivable cancers, these make up 20 per cent of cases in the UK, yet cause 40 per cent of the deaths.

Too often, researchers and funders shift their focus elsewhere. And while large projects and research groups have made tremendous progress in many other areas of cancer, now is the time to focus on the recalcitrant and less survivable varieties where the big breakthroughs are yet to be made.

The good news is that investment makes a difference. The doubling of government and research funders’ investment in leukaemia has meant that survival rates are now four times higher than in the 1970s, helping to deliver better diagnostic tools and treatments such as highly targeted drugs. The UK aims to lead the world in research, development and innovation. To do so, we must address the woeful lack of research funding and poor outcomes for the less survivable cancers.

In March, the government launched a plan to “cement the UK’s place as a science and technology superpower by 2030”, suggesting “testing different models of funding science . . . working with industry and philanthropic partners to open up new funding”. One such test succeeded when a recent philanthropic donation of $20mn to UK Biobank, the world-leading biomedical database, was matched by the government to help the revolution in genetic science and medicine. Clearly, this plan can work; now we must rapidly move forward with other partnerships leveraging the support of philanthropists.

There is a wealth of potential partners among the many philanthropists who support small charities, which play a critical role providing early funds for research in less survivable cancers. The flexibility of these charities nurtures inventions, innovations and talent but their size means they cannot do this alone. We should instead test new funding models by building partnerships between them and government.

One new model would be to take a Silicon Valley approach. In entrepreneurial ventures, small amounts of early-stage funding, known as angel investments, support innovative, highly uncertain work. When the entity is ready to scale up, larger amounts are sought.

In the same way, scale-up funding for small charity research projects needs to be catalysed by further investment. In the UK, this must come from government support. We should create an annual “cancer survivability fund” of £50mn to start a venture-funding type approach. Government and partners will choose promising early-stage research in less survivable cancers and investment will accelerate results. Unlike Silicon Valley angels, charity donors will be rewarded not by financial returns, but by research advances and better patient outcomes.

There are innovations ready for scale-up investment. For example, thanks to support from Pancreatic Cancer UK and others, Imperial College’s Professor George Hanna has developed an exciting new low-cost screening approach for pancreatic cancer through a simple breath test that can dramatically improve outcomes.

An entrepreneurial, rapid-response approach is urgently needed to accelerate such breakthroughs for less survivable cancers. We can change the outcomes for these deadliest of cancers. But we must act now.

版權聲明:本文版權歸FT中文網所有,未經允許任何單位或個人不得轉載,複製或以任何其他方式使用本文全部或部分,侵權必究。

落後的電力系統對綠色能源發電造成拖累

由於電網和電池儲能技術滯後,風能和太陽能發電商的停產率不斷上升。

歐洲要加強防務,錢從哪來?

各國政府正在討論如何促進對歐洲軍工產業的投資。

川普無意中重振加拿大自由黨

川普的挑釁激怒了加拿大人,削弱了與他結盟的加拿大反對黨的聲望。

美烏礦產協議的條款是什麼?

烏克蘭從川普政府獲得了一些讓步,但沒有獲得戰後安全保障。

Lex專欄:輝達透過季度壓力測試

對晶片製造商輝達來說,每個季度都是一個新的挑戰。

從華爾街到利雅得:普丁的「交易撮合者」爲美俄談判鋪平了道路

前高盛銀行家基里爾•德米特里耶夫是克里姆林宮與海灣國家的中間人。
設置字型大小×
最小
較小
默認
較大
最大
分享×