Governor Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis visited the University of South Florida this week to announce funding opportunities for the Florida Cancer Innovation Fund, which is making $60 million available for cancer research focused on nutrition and repurposing drugs, such as ivermectin.
The funding opportunity will strengthen Florida’s position as a “leader in cancer biomedical research while directly addressing the health needs of its citizens,” a press release from the Florida Department of Health explains, adding that priority “will be given to projects that focus on nutrition, and the repurposing of generic drugs such as ivermectin for cancer treatment.”
First Lady Casey DeSantis said of the funding, “Generic medicines are often overlooked because they’re off-patent and don’t necessarily promise big profits. Florida is investing in researching them to learn more and hopefully uncover new ways to beat cancer.”
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo called DeSantis an “inspiration,” and declared that he is “thrilled that Florida will be funding studies to test overlooked options in our next round of Cancer Innovation grants!”
Ivermectin was highlighted in a 2024 cancer treatment protocol.
The protocol repurposes Ivermectin, Fenbendazole, and Mebendazole to target mitochondrial-stem cell connection (MCC), a component in the development of stem cancer cells.
According to the protocol, published in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, each of the drugs have anti-cancer effects. Ivermectin “induces autophagy and apoptosis of cancer cell,” the document reads, adding, “In vivo, Ivermectin alone is more effective than standard chemotherapy (gemcitabine) alone at reducing tumor weight and volume in pancreatic cancer.” When given to cancer patients at five times the standard dose for up to 180 days, there were “no serious adverse effects.”
