Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation

The MMRF runs as if it were a for-profit business, expecting high returns from the money the organization raises from donors.

Giusti, a pharmaceutical company executive and Harvard Business School Alum, wanted to encourage researchers to develop treatments for multiple myeloma by using business models rather than academic models of drug development.

[1] MMRF is a private funder of multiple myeloma research, having raised over $120 million since its inception to contribute funding to more than 120 laboratories worldwide.

[2] MMRF funding contributes to diverse research strategies to yield long-, mid-, and short-term results in an effort to deliver better treatments to patients faster: basic science programs to better understand the disease and identify new druggable targets through genomics and proteomics research; validation programs to prioritize new compounds and combinations based on key targets; and clinical trials conducted at a number of myeloma centers.

[3] By 2013 it had raised more than $250 million and its work has helped gain approval of six new drugs to treat the disease.