In June, tax partner Kendi Ozmon and health care partner Mark Barnes met with Cancer Vaccine Coalition founder, CEO, and breast cancer survivor Kristen Dahlgren to provide pro bono legal assistance as part of Ropes & Gray’s United in the Fight Against Cancer initiative.
The firm’s work included completing an expedited tax exemption application to enable the Coalition to secure a substantial grant contingent on an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) determination of tax-exempt status.
As a result of our efforts, the Coalition received its IRS determination letter just two weeks after we submitted the application. The normal turnaround time for applications can be six months or longer.
“I am thrilled that Ropes & Gray was able to accelerate our application so we can begin funding critical trials for cancer vaccines. When you are battling cancer, every day counts, so this means now we will be able to start helping patients and saving lives,” said Kristen.
The Cancer Vaccine Coalition launched in January 2024 with the goal of developing strategies to both treat and prevent breast cancer through vaccines. The Coalition seeks to philanthropically raise funds to accelerate drug development of vaccines for cancer prevention and cancer therapy and involves a team of experts from scientific research and public policy to media. Kristen is a former NBC News and Today Show correspondent.
Kendi worked with tax associate Daniel Rockower on the tax exemption application, along with summer associate Tehya Corona. Asset management partner Sarah Davidoff and private capital transactions associates Danny Ishak and Marcus Nemeth led the corporate legal team for the Cancer Vaccine Coalition.
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