Vice President Joe Biden said numerous nations have signed memos of understanding with the U.S. regarding cancer research cooperation and cure development, as part of the cancer "moonshot" he's spearheading in his last year in office.

During a Thursday news conference in Stockholm with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, Biden said he will meet with international leaders interested in advancing cancer research during the United Nations General Assembly next month.

Obama put Biden in charge of the cancer moonshot last year when the vice president decided not to seek the Democratic presidential nomination.

The initiative aims to accomplish 10 years of cancer research in five, similar to the way John F. Kennedy charged the U.S. with putting a man on the moon in less than a decade. Biden, who lost his oldest son to brain cancer last year, has said it's a project he intends to stay with after he leaves office.