National Breast Cancer Coalition Looks to New Drug Development Models to Secure Billions for Research

The National Breast Cancer Coalition, an organization focused on advocacy and research, is looking to new approaches to drug development and technology as key to securing billions of dollars that could lead to new models of cancer prevention and treatment.

“We’re about changing the systems and making sure that meaningful work gets done to end breast cancer,” said Fran Visco, president of the coalition.

Visco, a more than 30-year breast cancer survivor, discussed an initiative called the Artemis Project, a research program developed by the coalition that is designed to bring together advocates and scientists. It operates with a small budget and is working to lead a phase 1 clinical trial for a preventative vaccine by the end of the year.

It’s similar to the research discovery the coalition helped organize with UCLA that ultimately sped up clinical trials of CDK inhibitors and made a drug available two years sooner than it would have been without the partnership.

“We keep pushing people to ask innovative and unusual questions about how to save lives. They are out-of-the-box questions that we know need to be answered. Technology changes and we keep asking more questions,” said Visco.

The organization has about half of its fundraising board in California. It hosts grassroots fundraising activities as well as an annual fundraiser that coincides with Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. This year’s event was hosted at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. Philanthropy is the main source of funding because the organization doesn’t take significant amounts of money from pharmaceutical companies or the government. Its independence allows it to set its own agenda.

On the advocacy side, the organization has helped increase funding through a political arm focused on funding and treatment. Recent work includes an effort to pass a bill in Congress related to the treatment of metastatic cancer. Individuals diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer automatically qualify for disability benefits from the Social Security Administration if they meet the qualifications. However, there is a 24-month waiting period for Medicare and a five-month waiting period for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. The legislation seeks to waive the waiting periods, which are crucial for treatment.

“We’re a strategic, evidence-based organization. We don’t fund a specific institution and we’re not about services. We look at the whole system and see where we can influence,” said Visco.