Childhood cancer is considered a rare disease affecting 300,000 new families every year worldwide, 90,000 of them unfortunately will lose their loved one. Moreover, more than 95% of childhood cancer survivors will have health-related issues because of the cancer treatments administered, the vast majority designed and developed for adult indications. Despite this, only five pediatric cancer drugs have been approved in the last 40 years versus more than 200 for adults, pointing to a large unmet medical need.
Oncoheroes Biosciences, currently building a multi-asset portfolio of pediatric oncology drugs, is very excited to announce the investment of Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research, a pediatric cancer non-profit focused on raising awareness and funds for childhood cancer research to find better treatments with fewer long-term side effects and, ultimately, cures.
“Everything started at a lovely dinner in DC back in 2015, where four of us who led non-profit childhood cancer foundations were sharing our frustration of not seeing enough efforts from the industry on developing new therapies for children. I still remember Ricardo Garcia, who later became co-founder and CEO of Oncoheroes, proposing to launch a biotech company 100% focused on childhood cancer. We are thrilled to team up with Oncoheroes and support the effort of bringing new life-saving therapies for children and adolescents with cancer,” stated Dean Crowe co-founder and CEO of Rally Foundation.
Rally Foundation funds the most promising and cutting-edge research initiatives around the globe, seeing themselves as philanthropic seed investors in the next great discovery. Since 2005, Rally has awarded more than $22 million in childhood cancer research grants to 404 projects at hospitals and research institutions around the world and secured $31 million in new federal funding for cancers in children, adolescents, and young adults from the Department of Defense’s Medical Research Program. For the first time, Rally Foundation is investing in a biotech company.
“During that dinner in DC, I advocated for a different approach to change the pediatric cancer landscape. Today, I am very excited about this new partnership with Rally Foundation, one of the organizations involved in the conversation that took place that night. We are honored that for the first time, Rally Foundation has decided to go beyond funding academic research by investing in Oncoheroes. We believe focused disease foundations and patients’ associations play an essential role during the development of new drugs for rare diseases. Thank you Rally for joining the effort,” stated Ricardo Garcia, CEO of Oncoheroes Biosciences.
