Campaign To Fight Staggering Anti-Cancer Drug Cost & Fund Drug Development Launched

IRVINE, Calif., March 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The staggering cost of cancer treatment means only patients living in the wealthiest countries have access to the latest treatment options against cancer. Even among the most affluent countries like the US, many patients have inadequate or no health insurance and are oftentimes saddled with devastating debts or skip therapy altogether. Access to modern cancer treatment is almost non-existent for cancer patients living in less affluent countries.

The mission statements of pharmaceutical and biotech companies often quote inspiring goals such as 'we are in the business of developing treatments to address areas of high unmet medical needs such as cancer.' What isn't made clear is that these altruistic ambitions mostly apply only to patients who can afford treatment in the real world where companies must deal with R&D costs, funding, regulatory and market pressures, and shareholder's interests when making pricing decisions. The Cancer Moonshot Program and the 21^st Century Cures Act, while bringing unparalleled funding and cooperation between the private sector, the government, and academia to fight cancer also do little to address treatment access.

With a successful campaign, HOPE will donate a portion of its profits toward providing its drugs completely free of charge to indigent patients in the US and worldwide if and when approved by the FDA and the relevant authorities in other countries. In addition, US residents who can contribute at specified levels will receive treatment vouchers which vouchers can be used by holders for free access to the HOPE drugs.

"We believe crowdfunding can be a sustainable model and can help bring down the cost of anti-cancer care, which should also be the goal of every pharmaceutical and biotech company. We call on our brethren in the industry, world leaders and the world's top 0.1% to support causes like ours so we can ultimately defeat cancer while providing greater access to the uninsured and indigent cancer patients worldwide," said George Uy, CEO of HOPE BIOSCIENCES. "We are also honored by our South Korean colleagues who granted to HOPE the licenses to develop their promising pipeline of products, which is a testament to Korean technological advances."

To contribute: https://igg.me/at/HopeBiosciences/x/16007074

About HOPE BIOSCIENCES, INC.
HOPE is a privately-owned biopharmaceutical company based in Irvine, California focused on developing and commercializing anti-cancer drugs that address high unmet medical needs and creating solutions to help extend treatment access as broadly as possible. HOPE has two unique assets currently in IND-enabling studies, including nuc-gemcitabine (HOPE-888), and multi-kinase inhibitor (HOPE-777).

"Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of Hope!" President Barack Obama.

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SOURCE HOPE BIOSCIENCES, INC.