Listen Oncoheroes at Childhood Cancer Talk Radio

Ricardo Garcia, Cesare Spadoni and Jonathan Again were invited to talk about Oncoheroes’ inception and vision at Childhood Cancer Talk Radio, a weekly radio program powered by Jack's Angels Foundation where they talk about real experiences, advocacy news, developments in research, and today's heroes for kids!

Thanks to Janet Demeter for this opportunity to spread our story over your listeners.

Check out the podcast recorded at the following link.

Interview with Joe McDonough, president of The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation

The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation honors the life of Andrew McDonough. Andrew battled leukemia, septic shock, and complications of childhood cancer for 167 days before passing away on July 14, 2007, at the age of 14. Andrew’s B+ blood type became his family and friends’ motto throughout his fight against childhood cancer — to “Be Positive”.

Joe McDonough is Andrew’s dad and The President of the B+ Foundation, the first childhood cancer foundation investing in Oncoheroes Biosciences.

 

“I think the Oncoheroes team may be onto something here.” - Joe McDonough

 
McDonough’s family portrait, from left to right, Ali, Joe, Andrew and Chris

McDonough’s family portrait, from left to right, Ali, Joe, Andrew and Chris

 

Hi Joe, to start with, it's easy to see how Andrew's legacy and life inspired you to create The B+ Foundation. Can you explain why you chose to focus the mission on research and family support?

It is very important for us to be both reactive and proactive in our mission.  There are SO many families of kids with cancer struggling to pay their bills and we want to lessen the financial burden so that they can focus on what’s most important – the life or death battle of their child.  We help literally thousands of families each year avoid eviction, buy their medicine that’s not covered by insurance, fix their cars so that they can get to treatment, and sadly, bury their children among other things.  But, that’s not enough. We must make advances in research to at best, cure childhood cancers, or at the very least, find kinder and gentler treatment protocols so that our childhood cancer survivors do not have to face such a harsh road ahead with late-stage side effects.

Oncoheroes support from B+ Foundation is the first investment from a childhood cancer-specific foundation. Can you explain what caused you to consider supporting Oncoheroes? 

Basically, I did my homework and I liked what I saw and what I heard.  We have a very diversified portfolio of research that we have supported and this investment fits nicely.

What ultimately led B+ to make the decision to invest in Oncoheroes.

As noted above, we strive for a diversified portfolio of quality scientific projects and I think we need to find creative solutions to fighting childhood cancers.  I think Oncoheroes has passionate, talented leadership that is trying a slightly different path and I think it worthy of investment. And, to have a financial stake in any upside is an attractive bonus.

Why do you think other non-profit organizations in the childhood cancer community should consider following The B+ Foundation's lead in supporting Oncoheroes? 

There are a lot of wonderful scientific projects out there and everyone needs to do their homework.  If they feel like investing in a somewhat unique opportunity with potential upside financial benefits, this could be right for them.  There are no guarantees in any research project. But, personally, I think the Oncoheroes team may be onto something here.

This is not the first time you invest in a for-profit, what message do you have for other nonprofits that are concerned about supporting and investing in for-profit companies?

I get it.  Virtually all of the research that we support falls to great investigators at hospitals and academic institutions.  But, that doesn’t mean that there’s no great science being conducted in the for-profit arena. While we’ve had several for-profit companies approach us and simply want our money, Oncoheroes appears to want partners and wants to share the success should it happen.  To me, it’s not an either/or question. It’s about developing the best portfolio of research investments.

The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation and Oncoheroes Biosciences standing together against Childhood Cancer

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The First Childhood Cancer Foundation Investing In Oncoheroes

Every year 90,000 kids worldwide die of cancer, largely because of the lack of innovative treatments for the types of cancer affecting children and adolescents.  Despite tremendous efforts from non-profit organizations and public entities funding scientific research for the discovery of potential new treatments, only four drugs designed specifically for pediatric cancers have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. One of the main problems is the lack of early-stage funding from the private sector and financial incentives for the industry to move potential treatments into the clinical phase.

“Non-profit organizations are starting to see the need to go beyond supporting only academic research and are gradually adopting a more innovative funding strategy by directly investing in biotech companies. We want to thank The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation for being the first childhood cancer foundation to support Oncoheroes and believing in this unique effort for childhood cancer drug development,” stated Ricardo Garcia, co-founder and CEO of Oncoheroes.

The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation honors the life of Andrew McDonough. Andrew battled leukemia, septic shock, and complications of childhood cancer for 167 days before passing away on July 14, 2007, at the age of 14. Andrew’s B+ blood type became his family and friends’ motto throughout his fight against childhood cancer — to “Be Positive”.

The B+ Foundation is about Kids Helping Kids Fight Cancer™ and is the largest provider of financial assistance to families of kids with cancer nationwide. Additionally, The B+ Foundation funds critical, cutting-edge childhood cancer research and advocates on behalf of kids with cancer.

“Oncoheroes exists because we have been touched by childhood cancer, too. This is just the beginning and we encourage all childhood cancer foundations to continue reaching out to us and learn how to be part of this unprecedented effort,” stated Cesare Spadoni, co-founder, and COO of Oncoheroes.

We would love that everyone who cares about childhood cancer engages with Oncoheroes. Ambitious goals will only be achieved by working united.

 

THANK YOU

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Oncoheroes mentioned in LA VANGUARDIA newspaper

Oncoheroes story has been featured at the Spanish newspaper, La Vanguardia, as one of our co-founders, Ricardo Garcia, is originally from Spain.

“Barcelona, 3 oct (EFE).- Dos padres con hijos con cáncer, uno de ellos un barcelonés que se trasladó a Boston (EEUU) para tratar la enfermedad de su hijo, han creado la startup biotecnológica Oncoheroes Biosciences Inc., que en menos de dos años de vida ya ha logrado 1,5 millones de euros para acelerar la fase clínica de un nuevo medicamento indicado para un cáncer pediátrico.“

National Foundation For Cancer Research And Oncoheroes United Against Childhood Cancer

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Childhood cancer affects 300,000 new children and teenagers each year. Surprisingly, from up to 120 approved cancer drugs, around 30 have been used off label in children, 15 have pediatric use information in their labeling and only 4 treatments designed specifically for pediatric cancer have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

One of the greatest obstacles to developing new treatments is what researchers call the “Valley of Death”, the transition between early discoveries and clinical development or, in other words, the process to turn science findings into potential treatments. The initial research phase is normally funded by public and non-profit entities, whereas the late stage clinical phase is mainly funded by the private sector. In childhood cancer, the clinical development of specific new agents is under-funded because the pharmaceutical industry is mainly focusing on more prevalent and profitable adult oncology indications.

Thankfully, some non-profit organizations are seeing the need to go beyond funding only early stage academic research and are making remarkable and innovative changes in their investment strategy. This is the case for the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR), who we want to thank again for their unconditional support to Oncoheroes Biosciences by announcing their second investment to our company.

NFCR is a national charity for cancer research co-founded by Nobel Laureate Dr. Albert Szent-Györgyi in 1973. In its 46-year history, NFCR has provided more than $380 million in funding to cancer research and public prevention education.

Two years ago, Oncoheroes received funding support from NFCR which allowed us to set up our discovery lab and launch our first project for the development of a new therapy for medulloblastoma patients (more info). Thanks to NFCR’s initial support, Oncoheroes has made tremendous progress not only on the discovery project but also convincing others to invest in our project.

Now, NFCR is taking an additional step, supporting us through a new funding paradigm which it has recently launched called the AIM-HI Accelerator Fund. AIM-HI funds translational research focusing on startups that have commercial potential at the early stage of their cancer therapeutic discovery activities. This new investment will contribute to the clinical development of volasertib, the first asset that Oncoheroes has in-licensed from Boehringer Ingelheim.

Moreover, NFCR has been helping Oncoheroes obtain further exposure to the world’s cancer research, biopharmaceutical and investment communities, such as through our participation in the 2019 China BioMed Innovation and Investment Conference, held September 21-23, 2019.

Ambitious goals will only be achieved by working united. Thanks, NFCR, for believing in our unprecedented effort for childhood cancer drug development. Together, we will make a difference.

 

THANK YOU

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