Joe Biden Pushes For Collaboration In Cancer Research

During a speech at South by Southwest, former Vice President Joe Biden urgently stressed the need for collaboration in cancer research. 

"Guess what — the only bipartisan thing left in America is the fight against cancer," Biden said. 

Biden's son, Beau, died of brain cancer in 2015. 

Soon after, then-President Obama tasked Biden with putting together the Cancer Moonshot Task Force. 

The group helped link researchers, agencies and hospitals together — connecting vast patient data with the supercomputers able to crunch the numbers. 

It's created a website to connect more cancer patients and drug companies looking to conduct new treatment trials. 

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And it's worked on establishing licensing agreements between drug companies, so it's easier to combine and compare drugs. 

Now out of the White House, Biden and his wife, Jill, launched the Biden Foundation. One of its goals is continuing the research that started with the Cancer Moonshot.

"We need everyone — survivors, family members, health care practitioners, philanthropists, innovators — to have a seat at the table. ... Only together can we seize the moment to defeat cancer," Jill Biden said. 

The former vice president added he hopes the Trump administration makes the fight against cancer a major issue, as well.