Abraxis BioScience Chairman Patrick Soon-Shiong is putting his billions to work towards bridging the gap between science and medicine and to erase the disparities in healthcare between rich and poor, reported the Los Angeles Times. “If you look at all the things I’m doing, the single thread is driving science for the better care of patients,” says Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, who started the Soon-Shiong Family Foundation with his wife, Michele Chan. “It’s all driving towards how we can we get better technology for patients and how can it help people not just in the United States but around the globe.” The son of a Chinese practitioner of traditional medicine, Soon-Shiong grew up in apartheid South Africa. He earned his medical degree in Johannesburg and joined UCLA as a surgeon and medical professor at age 31. His fortune is tied to his stake in Abraxis BioScience, a Los Angeles drug development company formed from two firms he founded to pursue promising therapies for cancer, diabetes and other devastating diseases. His life mission is to shrink what he calls the “valley of death”—the time between the discovery of a drug or medical technology and its practical application for patients—as well as the gap between rich and poor in health and healthcare. His net worth, as estimated by Forbes magazine, is $5.5 billion earned as a medical entrepreneur.
