# OpenCures

> OpenCures is a philanthropic platform in San Francisco that lets you donate directly to fund scientific research that develops cures, not therapies that manage symptoms. Donors pick a disease area; an AI scientist and a medical advisory board of leading researchers decide where the money goes. The first focus is latent viruses.

## The problem
- Private markets: biotechs are incentivized to treat symptoms instead of root causes, earning recurring revenue from patients who take therapies for life.
- Traditional philanthropy: disease charities mostly fund patient support, advocacy and awareness. The American Cancer Society spent $199M of $845M (about 24 cents per dollar) on research in fiscal year 2024 (BBB Wise Giving Alliance).

## How it works (the flywheel)
1. Fund: you give to a disease area you care about.
2. Allocate: an AI scientist and a medical advisory board decide together where the capital goes, funding a focused research organization (FRO) for that disease.
3. Experiment: the FRO runs experiments through partner CROs and high-throughput labs; every result, positive or negative, comes back as structured data, and donors see what their gift paid for and what it found.
4. Learn: the data feeds the AI scientist and the board, so the next round funds better experiments.
As autonomous robotic labs come online, the loop gets faster and cheaper. Proceeds from cures go back into funding more research.

## Giving
OpenCures runs on donor-advised funds. Giving appreciated stock instead of cash lets donors deduct full market value and avoid capital gains tax on the growth. Example: $1,000,000 in shares with a $200,000 basis. Selling first leaves $703,200 for research after $296,800 tax; giving the shares sends the full $1,000,000. (Not tax advice.)

## First disease area
Latent viruses: infections that lie dormant and the immune system never learns to clear. Then the next disease, and the next.

## Questions

### What is OpenCures?
OpenCures is a philanthropic platform that lets you donate directly to fund scientific research that develops cures, not therapies that manage symptoms.

### How does OpenCures decide what research to fund?
You pick the disease area. An AI scientist and a medical advisory board of leading researchers decide together where that capital goes. The money funds a focused research organization (FRO) for that disease, which runs experiments through a network of partner CROs and high-throughput labs. Every result, positive or negative, comes back as structured data and shapes the next round of funding.

### What disease does OpenCures start with?
Latent viruses: infections that lie dormant and the immune system never learns to clear. Then the next disease, and the next.

### How do I give to OpenCures tax-efficiently?
OpenCures runs on donor-advised funds. Giving appreciated stock instead of cash lets you deduct its full market value and avoid capital gains tax on the growth, so more of your gift reaches the lab. This is not tax advice; talk to your advisor.

### How is OpenCures different from a disease charity?
Many disease charities spend most of each dollar on patient support, fundraising, advocacy and overhead. The largest cancer charity in America spent 24 cents of each dollar on research in fiscal year 2024. OpenCures deploys philanthropic dollars to fund fundamental research for developing cures.

### How can I get involved?
OpenCures is inviting a small founding group of funders, scientists and patients. Request access on the site or write to hello@opencures.org.

## Contact
- Website: https://opencures.fly.dev/
- Email: hello@opencures.org
- Request access (founding group of funders, scientists and patients): https://opencures.fly.dev/#invitation