Angel Philanthropy and Crowdfunding to Accelerate Cancer Research in Developing World

Abstract

Despite the continuing threats of the global noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) epidemic, the funding agenda for disruptive innovation remains pale, particularly for cancer research and development. Chief among the NCDs, cancer stands in dire straits. Over the last decade, the global cancer burden has shifted from the developed world to the less developed countries. In developing countries, 56 % of cancer cases and 64 % of cancer deaths occurred. Worrisomely, cancer survival rates are much lower in developing countries due to the difficulties in early diagnosis, first clinical presentation as advanced disease, and, importantly, lack of disruptive innovation for new diagnostics and therapeutics. Several promising cancer research endeavors are merely shelved due to the paucity of adequate long-term or rapid response financial aid to developing world cancer researchers. Alternative sources of research funding, too, are limited in less developed countries, causing a “double jeopardy” in cancer research funding. Despite their vast population sizes in the order of billions, contribution of the philanthropic sector for cancer research is very infrequent in India and the mainland China. Disruptive innovation in cancer research will not come to fruition unless we are willing to innovate “upstream” first, at the level of research funding. Angel philanthropy tends to fund research with higher risks for failure but with greater odds for disruptive innovation. We propose that the local angel philanthropy networks may provide the necessary boost to create disruptive innovation ecosystems for cancer research in the developing world.