Biden cancer nonprofit suspends operations indefinitely

By Stephan Braun

Politics Jul 15, 2019 1:46 PM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — A nonprofit foundation set up by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden that relied on health care world partnerships to speed a cure for cancer has suspended its operations, it announced Monday.

The Biden Cancer Initiative’s sudden move to cease its activities comes two years after it was founded in 2017 by the former vice president and his wife, Jill, as a philanthropic extension of Biden’s stewardship of the White House Cancer Moonshot program. Biden, who on Monday was detailing his health care plan , headed the Obama administration effort to accelerate a cancer cure in tribute to his son Beau, who died of the disease in 2015.

The nonprofit promoted nearly 60 partnerships with drug companies, health care firms, charities and other organizations that pledged more than $400 million to improve cancer treatment.

Biden and his wife left the group’s board in April as an ethics precaution before he joined the presidential campaign . But the nonprofit had trouble maintaining momentum without their involvement. And the roles played by Biden allies and health care-related firms in aiding the foundation’s activities have raised questions about their potential interests if Biden won the presidency.

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