Widening access to paediatric cancer medications using PodTech™’s podule™ technology

“A child’s chances of surviving cancer are largely determined by where they are born, making this one of the starkest disparities in global healthcare.”

These are the words of James R. Downing, the Managing Director, President, and CEO of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a non-profit organization based in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. In its 60+ years of operations, St. Jude’s has been witness to the disheartening disparities in paediatric cancer outcomes. Over these six decades, the research organisation has also enabled the development of treatments which have pushed the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80%.

This progress, however, has been far from even and equitable.

Each year, it is estimated that about 400,000 children around the world develop cancer. Most of these children aren’t able to access or afford a consistent supply of cancer medicines. Even today, with the massive progress the scientific community has made in developing oncology treatments, an estimated 70% of children from resource-limited settings die from cancer – all because of a lack of appropriate treatment or disruptions to treatment or poor-quality medicines. The less than 30% survival rate in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is in stark contrast to the survival rates of over 80% in high-income countries.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Through the Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and St. Jude’s began an incredible initiative. In February 2025, they began distributing essential paediatric cancer medications to 30 hospitals across Mongolia and Uzbekistan – these treatments are expected to reach about 5,000 children! Mongolia and Uzbekistan are only two of a total of six countries – Ecuador, Jordan, Nepal and Zambia are also part of this pilot programme – who will benefit from this first-of-its-kind initiative.

Widespread distribution. Quality assured drugs. Uninterrupted supply. No cost. That’s what these six countries will enjoy as they aim to bridge critical gaps in paediatric cancer care in LMICs. Over the coming five to seven years, the Global Platform aims to take this initiative even further to reach 50 countries. This will translate to treatment for about 120,000 children with cancer in LMICs. It will translate to reduced mortality rates. It will translate to more equitable paediatric cancer recovery around the world.

Widening access to essential childhood cancer medicines.

In a document titled “Closing the gaps: the Global Platform’s approach to childhood cancer medicine access”, St. Jude’s and the WHO outline the initiative’s approach to achieving their mission. In defining the four pillars necessary to transform the medicines access landscape, they emphasize the importance of availability, affordability, accessibility, and quality assurance.

Availability means that facilities are able to maintain consistent stocks of medicines; this can be achieved through accurate forecasting, effective global procurement, and reliable national supply chains. By affordability, they refer to the need to reduce the financial burden of paediatric cancer care on households while increasing the use of services. Accessibility means that medicines and care are delivered through a reliable network close to children’s homes. And finally, quality assurance is the pillar that guarantees that all these medicines supplied to children are not only safe but also effective and of high-quality.

PodTech™’s solutions for wider access to paediatric cancer care.

For far too long, children with cancer from low-income communities and countries have not been able to access the medicines they so desperately need. Things are changing, as the Global Platform’s initiatives have made clear. But they can change much faster.

The WHO and St. Jude announced the Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines in 2021. By bringing together governments, the pharmaceutical industry, and non-governmental organisations, through its history, the platform has emphasized a co-design approach. An approach that prioritises capacity building as well as long-term sustainability.

At PodTech™, we agree that no one stakeholder alone can solve the problem. The Global Platform’s measures to reduce childhood cancer mortality rightly cover the realms of governance, forecasting, clinical aspects, supply management, regulations, and monitoring and reporting systems. We, at PodTech™, believe that we, too, can serve as important stakeholders in the fight to protect children from the clutches of cancer, no matter where they live.

As countries aim to shorten supply chains and bring medicine manufacturing closer to the people it serves, we believe our podule™ technology can accelerate the process.

Availability. Our podules™ can enable the regional production of essential cancer medication. Having a facility dedicated to meeting the needs of a particular region can help in multiple ways – it can not only create a reliable national supply chain but in the absence of accurate long-term forecasting, it can also respond quickly to evolving demand.

Affordability. Setting up a prefabricated pharmaceutical manufacturing facility, like the ones we build, costs significantly less than it does to set up a traditional factory. Costs are further reduced by shorter construction timelines. These financial savings can be passed on to the purchasers and final consumers of the cancer medicines, making the drugs much more affordable in low-resource settings.

Accessibility. A key indicator of paediatric cancer care accessibility is proximity of medicines and care to children’s homes. By building prefab pharma factories for cancer drugs in regions that wouldn’t otherwise have a manufacturing presence, you can use our podules™ to bring cancer drugs and care closer to home for these children.

Finally, quality assurance. Substandard and fake drugs have long plagued health systems, particularly in LMICs. Setting up local manufacturing enhances visibility, trust, and transparency in pharma production. Moreover, our podules™ come with built-in quality assurance mechanisms to ensure that every batch produced in our pharma facilities meets required safety, efficacy and quality standards.

Bringing about equitable and sustainable access to critical childhood cancer treatments is no piece of cake. It requires a complex interplay of effective regulation, production, supply management, distribution and beyond. Stakeholders in every part of the health and related sectors have important roles to play.

As a pharmaceutical manufacturer, producing critical medicines where and when they are needed is an important responsibility. A responsibility you can fulfil through agile, flexible and scalable pharma factory solutions.

We are always on the lookout for partners in the fight against global health inequity. If you want to set up a factory to produce childhood cancer medicines or any other drugs, vaccines or diagnostics, reach out to us. Together, we can make the world a healthier place for all children and adults.