Royalty Pharma Gives $7.5M to Blood Cancer United's Therapy Acceleration Program, Marking New Venture Philanthropy Phase
核心洞察
Royalty Pharma (搜索) has donated $7.5 million to Blood Cancer United (搜索)'s Therapy Acceleration Program, becoming the first and largest corporate donor under an updated funding model.
TAP deploys donations as venture capital investments in early-stage biotech companies, reinvesting financial returns to fund future blood cancer therapy development.
The program has supported six therapies that reached FDA approval or National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines, with more than 30 active clinical studies underway.
Blood Cancer United (搜索) and Royalty Pharma (搜索) announced a $7.5 million donation from Royalty Pharma to support the organization's Therapy Acceleration Program (TAP), a venture philanthropy initiative that accelerates development of blood cancer therapies through strategic equity investments and hands-on collaboration with biotech companies. The gift marks a new phase for TAP, with Royalty Pharma serving as the first and largest corporate donor under an updated model that invites direct donations to the program.
TAP donations are deployed as venture capital investments in early-stage biotech companies advancing therapies with high potential to address significant unmet needs in blood cancer. Beyond funding, TAP provides scientific, clinical and business expertise, strategic guidance and access to a global network of blood cancer experts. Financial returns from TAP are reinvested into the program to support future partnerships and investments.
"As scientific advances create new possibilities for patients, many promising therapies still fail to reach patients," said Dr. E. Anders Kolb, president and CEO of Blood Cancer United (搜索). "TAP helps move those therapies forward by supporting companies at a critical stage of development where funding and expertise can determine whether a therapy advances or stalls. This gift from Royalty Pharma (搜索) will help us continue to advance science, create new treatment options, and ultimately improve outcomes for people with blood cancer."
Building on an Existing Alliance
The donation expands a collaborative partnership between the two organizations. In 2022, Royalty Pharma (搜索) launched a five-year, $7.5 million alliance with Blood Cancer United (搜索) focused on addressing healthcare disparities in blood cancer care and treatment, including expanding access to clinical trials for underserved patients.
"For nearly 30 years, Royalty Pharma (搜索) has invested in scientific and medical innovation, including many important advances in blood cancer," said Pablo Legorreta, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Royalty Pharma. "We believe that scientific discovery can only transform patients' lives when it is successfully translated into medicines. This gift reflects both our longstanding commitment to advancing blood cancer innovation and our confidence in Blood Cancer United (搜索)'s ability to help promising therapies move closer to patients."
Track Record and Portfolio
Founded in 2007, TAP was created to move promising blood cancer therapies into clinical development faster. As it approaches its 20th year, the program continues to provide funding and scientific, clinical and drug development expertise to advance therapies at critical stages of development. Since its launch, TAP has supported six therapies that have gone on to receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval or be included in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines. More than 30 active clinical studies are currently evaluating TAP-supported therapies.
One example cited by the organizations is ziftomenib, a member of a new class of drugs known as menin (搜索) inhibitors. TAP and Blood Cancer United (搜索) provided early, critical support for foundational work conducted at the University of Michigan and played a key role in introducing that work to Kura Oncology, which then advanced the development of ziftomenib. The drug is now FDA-approved as a targeted therapy for adults with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (搜索) with a susceptible NPM1 (搜索) mutation.
"It takes a lot of determination and smart people, along with a fair amount of good fortune and investors, of course, to develop new treatments, especially for rare diseases," said Troy Wilson, Ph.D., JD, president, CEO and co-founder of Kura Oncology. "TAP and Royalty Pharma (搜索) are a formidable pairing that combines all of that. Above all, they share our conviction that patients must remain at the center of every decision we make."
Broader Funding Effort
The updated TAP model builds on Blood Cancer United (搜索)'s longstanding approach to funding science while expanding opportunities for collaboration with industry and philanthropic partners. By enabling directed donations to TAP and continuing to reinvest returns, the model is intended to help accelerate the pace of drug development.
Royalty Pharma (搜索)'s commitment is part of a broader effort by a group of inaugural funders supporting this next phase of TAP. Blood Cancer UK also contributed $1 million to the program, and Blood Cancer United (搜索) committed $15 million to support TAP's continued growth.
TAP collaborates with biotech companies to support development of novel platforms and first-in-class therapies addressing high unmet medical needs, emerging patient populations, and orphan indications. Blood Cancer United (搜索), formerly The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, is the largest global nonprofit focused on blood cancer patient support, research, and advocacy, serving people affected by all 100-plus types of blood cancer since its founding in 1949.