In a speech to the delegates gathered at the conference of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), American Vice President Joe Biden described how the "Cancer Moonshot" - a $1 billion USD initiative - is expected to fuel progress in cancer research.

Notably, Biden suggested a certain sympathy with the goals of open-access publishing and the Open Science Movement.

"Right now, you work for years to come up with a significant breakthrough, and if you do, you get to publish a paper in one of the top journals," he said.

"For anyone to get access to that publication, they have to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars to subscribe to a single journal. And here’s the kicker — the journal owns the data for a year.

"[American] taxpayers fund $5 billion a year in cancer research every year, but once it’s published, nearly all of that taxpayer-funded research sits behind walls," Biden continued. "Tell me how this is moving the process along more rapidly."

He noted the funding policy of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - "Their policy is crystal clear: The results have to be free and open to anyone from the minute they are published."

It will remain to be seen if this guarded support will be actionable - but it's good to look ahead at the frontiers that may open in the wake of the Moonshot.

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