Biden cancer group shuts down operations

[July 16, 2019]  (Reuters) - The Biden Cancer Initiative, a non-profit organization started by former Vice President Joe Biden to support cancer prevention and research, said on Monday it suspended operations last week, two and a half months after Biden and his wife resigned from the group to focus on his presidential campaign.

Biden, whose son Beau died from brain cancer in 2015, launched the group in 2017. He has said that he would like to president who presided over the end of cancer as we know it.

"We are suspending activities given our unique circumstances We remain personally committed to the cause, but at this time will have to pause efforts," Greg Simon, president of the Biden Cancer Initiative, said in a statement.

The group said on its website that it had shuttered as of July 11.

Biden, the front-runner in the Democratic presidential race, unveiled a healthcare plan on Monday. The plan is estimated to cost $750 billion and will paid for partly by higher tax rates for the wealthy and doubled tax rates on capital gains.

(Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

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