RKMF commits $25M for venture-philanthropy initiative to speed rare disease discovery

Richard King Mellon Foundation has awarded $25 million to Rare Ventures in Pittsburgh to accelerate therapies for rare diseases. The three-year commitment will unite University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, ElevateBio, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and Stanford University around a venture-philanthropy model designed to overcome weak commercial incentives. The initiative aims to move treatments faster and make research self-sustaining by recycling revenue from successful therapies. An AI platform, Curator, will connect deidentified genetic data with clinical trials and specialists, targeting discovery and outcomes worldwide.