Blood Cancer United Announces $7.5 Million Gift From Royalty Pharma to Expand Therapy Acceleration Program

The donation 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. In addition to providing critical funding, TAP offers scientific, clinical and business expertise, strategic guidance and access to a global network of blood cancer experts to help bring new therapies closer to patients.

TAP is designed to generate outcomes aligned with Blood Cancer United's mission, including positive clinical trial results, regulatory approvals, and new treatment options for patients. Financial returns from TAP are reinvested into the program to support future partnerships and investments, extending the impact of donor support and helping accelerate the development of future blood cancer therapies.

"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. "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 will help us continue to advance science, create new treatment options, and ultimately improve outcomes for people with blood cancer."

This donation builds on a collaborative partnership between Blood Cancer United and Royalty Pharma. In 2022, Royalty Pharma launched a five-year, $7.5 million alliance with the organization focused on addressing healthcare disparities in blood cancer care and treatment, including expanding access to clinical trials for underserved patients. The new gift expands that relationship with a shared commitment to drive the next generation of blood cancer therapies to patients.

"For nearly 30 years, Royalty Pharma 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's ability to help promising therapies move closer to patients."

Founded in 2007, TAP was created to help 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 to address unmet medical needs.

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. 

"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 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."

TAP and Blood Cancer United 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. Kura then advanced the development of ziftomenib, a member of a new class of drugs known as menin inhibitors. Ziftomenib is now FDA-approved as a targeted therapy for adults with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia with a susceptible NPM1 mutation.

The updated TAP model builds on Blood Cancer United'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'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 committed $15 million to support TAP's continued growth.

About Royalty Pharma

Founded in 1996, Royalty Pharma is the largest buyer of biopharmaceutical royalties and a leading funder of innovation across the biopharmaceutical industry, collaborating with innovators from academic institutions, research hospitals and non-profits through small and mid-cap biotechnology companies to leading global pharmaceutical companies. Royalty Pharma has assembled a portfolio of royalties which entitles it to payments based directly on the top-line sales of many of the industry's leading therapies. Royalty Pharma funds innovation in the biopharmaceutical industry both directly and indirectly – directly when it partners with companies to co fund late-stage clinical trials and new product launches in exchange for future royalties, and indirectly when it acquires existing royalties from the original innovators. Royalty Pharma's current portfolio includes royalties on more than 35 commercial products, including Vertex's Trikafta and Alyftrek, GSK's Trelegy, Roche's Evrysdi, Johnson & Johnson's Tremfya, Biogen's Tysabri and Spinraza, Servier's Voranigo, AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson's Imbruvica, Astellas and Pfizer's Xtandi, Pfizer's Nurtec ODT, and Gilead's Trodelvy, and 17 development-stage product candidates. For more information, visit www.royaltypharma.com.

About Blood Cancer United®

Blood Cancer United® (formerly The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) is the largest global nonprofit focused on blood cancer patient support, research, and advocacy. Since their founding in 1949, the organization has consistently evolved to better serve people affected by all 100-plus types of blood cancer. Blood Cancer United funds innovative research, offers free resources and personalized support, and advocates at state and national levels for more accessible and affordable healthcare for all patients. To learn more, visit www.BloodCancerUnited.org.

About Therapy Acceleration Program

The Therapy Acceleration Program® is Blood Cancer United's mission-driven, strategic venture philanthropy initiative that seeks to accelerate the development of innovative blood cancer therapies and change the standard of care.

TAP collaborates with biotech companies to support the development of novel platforms, first-in-class therapies addressing high unmet medical needs, emerging patient populations, and orphan indications.

Blood Cancer United Media Contact: 

Sandra Salviejo 

Senior Director, Communications, Blood Cancer United 

[email protected] 

Royalty Pharma Investor Relations and Communications: 

+1 (212) 883-6772 

[email protected]

SOURCE Blood Cancer United® formerly The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society