RAPT signs on with strug­gling Han­mi for Asian en­trance of can­cer ther­a­py aimed at 'charged tu­mors'

In the ear­ly 60s, two British vi­rol­o­gists an­a­lyz­ing tu­mor cells from Ugan­da made a land­mark sci­en­tif­ic dis­cov­ery that would lead to a land­mark sci­en­tif­ic er­ror.

They dis­cov­ered the first can­cer-caus­ing virus, lat­er epony­mous­ly named Ep­stein-Barr, and Amer­i­ca — fresh off the po­lio vac­cine’s un­prece­dent­ed suc­cess — was ready to be­lieve that most can­cers were caused by virus­es and thus could be cured by vac­cines. The prob­lem was sim­ple: Most can­cers weren’t, and the ones caused by Ep­stein-Barr most­ly af­flict­ed peo­ple oceans away from Wash­ing­ton DC, where the Na­tion­al Can­cer In­sti­tute be­gan spend­ing mil­lions on the sub­field.

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