Biden on cancer research: ‘I’ve been on the other end of the need’

Vice President Biden on Friday called for global cooperation on curing cancer, framing the battle as personal following his son’s death from the disease last year.

“In a sense I might be the least qualified person to speak here today,” he said at the Vatican, according to The Washington Post. “But I’ve been on the other end of the need.”

{mosads}Beau Biden, the vice president’s son, died last May after battling brain cancer. The former attorney general of Delaware was 46.

Joe Biden on Friday said that he vividly recalls wishing for an experimental treatment that could have saved his son.

“[Beau was] that person who shares your soul,” he said at the Vatican’s Third Annual International Regenerative Medicine Conference. “[I was] clinging to hope. You learn and become an expert when someone you adore is in dangerous difficulty.”

President Obama announced earlier this year a “moonshot” initiative aimed at curing cancer in honor of Beau Biden’s struggle.

The Washington Post on Friday reported that the Obama administration has proposed an additional $1 billion on cancer research this year and next.

Biden said the same day that America’s efforts are attracting interest from other nations interested in preventing cancer.

“They sense exactly what we sense — the enormous possibilities,” he said, citing Israel, Japan and the United Arab Emirates as curious parties.

Pope Francis echoed Biden’s remarks on Friday, arguing that the medical industry could improve its treatment of cancer patients.

“These patients are not often given sufficient attention because investing in them is not expected to generate sufficient economic return,” the Catholic leader said, criticizing an “economy of exclusion.”

Biden ruled out a third Oval Office bid in October following his son’s death.