The new centre is going to be built next to the current Champalimaud building in Lisbon, and it is expected to open in October 2020, ten years after the inauguration of the “Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown”.

According to the foundation, “this is the first time a foreign family entrusts a philanthropic institution from Portugal with this kind of responsibility”.

The €50 million donation was made by Mauricio Botton Carasso and his wife, Charlotte Botton, the family of the founders of Danone company, founded in Spain in 1919. Mauricio Botton Carasso is considered one of the richest men in Spain.

Mauricio Botton Carasso was born in France and belongs to the third generation of the Sephardic Jew family. He is the grandson of Isaac Carasso, the founder of Danone, according to the information provided by the Champalimaud Foundation.

This research and treatment centre for pancreatic cancer is going to be named the “Botton-Champalimaud” centre.

Pancreatic cancer is currently responsible for the death of around 1,300 people a year in Portugal and over 330,000 people in the world.