Funding Gift Program Announced for Cancer Research Breakthroughs

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the UBS Oncology Impact Fund (OIF) managed by MPM Capital were extremely proud to announce the first funding gift to the joint AACR-MPM Transformative Cancer Research Grants Program, in support of innovative research that will accelerate breakthroughs against cancer. The first contribution from the fund to AACR – a total of US$1.2 million – was announced at the AACR Annual Meeting 2018, April 14–18. The fund is also due to donate a second US$1.2 million to UBS's Optimus Foundation to support emerging market access to cancer care, or US$2.5 million in total.

“Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, and much more research is urgently needed if we are to markedly reduce the incidence, morbidity, and mortality of this devastating disease. The AACR is deeply grateful to UBS and MPM Capital for their extraordinary commitment to this partnership, as this funding will help further ignite high-impact, transformative research that will catalyze advances in cancer research, result in the development of novel products and have a significant impact on future clinical practice,” said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), Chief Executive Officer of the AACR.

The OIF is a first-of-its-kind social impact fund dedicated to investing in oncology therapeutics. The fund was structured and raised by UBS and is managed by MPM. With US$471 million at its close in April 2016, the fund invests across a spectrum of companies, from early-stage start-ups through public companies. These companies are developing transformative cancer therapeutics that aim to have a significant impact on improvements in patient outcomes and well-being.

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In addition to compelling financial returns, the OIF seeks to make a positive, measurable social impact. The OIF is donating a portion of its own profits from the fund as well as future royalties on many of the drugs developed by fund portfolio companies. In addition to the funds dedicated to the AACR-MPM Transformative Cancer Research Grants Program, the OIF is dedicating an equal portion to the UBS Optimus Foundation to provide access to cancer care in the developing world, where cancer kills more people than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. This first funding contribution to the joint AACR-MPM grant marks only the beginning of the material financial contributions and impact that the OIF hopes to achieve over its long-term lifespan.

Mark Haefele, Global Chief Investment Officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, says: “Over the next two decades, growth in cancer cases will outpace population growth by a factor of three, and the greatest need for funding is early-stage therapies. We are very pleased that an impact approach to oncology investment appears capable of doing good for our clients and patients as well as generating a compelling financial return.”

“MPM’s approach to investment – not just investing in innovation but innovating in investment – is directly aligned with the AACR’s strategy of driving research and innovation to patient care,” said Christiana Bardon, MD, MBA, Managing Director of the OIF. “This fund establishes a new investment model that partners private funds with public philanthropy and has the potential to revolutionize how we finance groundbreaking research and global access to cancer care and health care in general.”

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Twenty percent of the committed capital in the OIF is dedicated to public equity investments, and the balance to private companies. These investments are diversified across rapidly evolving, novel treatments including antibody technology, cancer vaccines, checkpoint inhibitors, immune stimulators, targeted therapies, targeted radiotherapeutics, oncolytic viruses, and cell therapies. The unique structure of the fund supports its early progress, and as the companies continue to grow and mature throughout the fund’s lifecycle, the impact contributions to research and care will reflect this growth.

The AACR and MPM are now establishing an expert Scientific Advisory Board whose members will be tasked with selecting the grant recipients of the AACR-MPM Transformative Cancer Research Grants Program that will benefit the full spectrum of cancer research.

“Our hope is that cancer therapies generated from the fund will lead to dramatic improvements in the outcomes of patients’ lives. I am excited about the promising academic research that will be funded by this grants program and the likely transformative impact these new discoveries will have on future clinical practice,” said OIF Scientific Advisory Board member William C. Hahn, MD, PhD, Chief Research Strategy Officer and Chief, Division of Molecular and Cellular Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Institute Member, Broad Institute.

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