The US vice-president, Joe Biden, says there is a need for a new “Manhattan Project” against cancer as he announced a deal to share data from Australian patients with researchers around the world.

Biden, on the first official day of a four-day visit to Australia, opened the $1bn Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Melbourne on Sunday and shared memories of his son Beau, who died of cancer in 2015.

“We all have reasons to be in this fight,” he told the crowd. “What you’re doing here is profound, it has an impact in every corner of the world.”

Biden, who is leading the so-called “moonshot” attempt to accelerate cancer research, compared the work required to beat cancer to the research effort that produced the atomic bomb.

“I almost wish we hadn’t called it the moonshot,” he said. “It really is more like the Manhattan Project, it really is about collaboration in a way that hasn’t happened before.”

Under three memorandums of understanding signed with Australian state and federal governments, 50,000 Australian and 8000 US cancer patients will have their genetic data sent to researchers.

“[We’re] using supercomputing power to find answers that we don’t have right now,” Biden said. “We’re going to be able to share patient histories and proteogenomics and clinical phenotypes, data of various proteins and genetic characteristics, of almost 60,000 patients in Australia and the United States, with full privacy protections.

“What this means is researchers around the world will better be able to understand what causes particular cancers, how to target cancers.”

Biden spoke about his experience of losing his son to brain cancer and how everyone touched by cancer understands how much time with their loved ones matters.

Sherene Loi demonstrated research during Biden’s visit, highlighting cells in the body that attempt to attack the disease.

“The big question is why do some breast cancers produce an immune response and some don’t,” Prof Loi said.

After opening the new building, Biden met war veterans at a flag presentation and then went to the Carlton-West Coast AFL match at the MCG, where he presented the game ball.

Biden wished the foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, a happy birthday at the game and watched it alongside Collingwood’s US recruit Mason Cox.

He attended the game with his granddaughters Natalie, Finnegan and Naomi.