Ensuring every American has access to the tools we have to prevent, detect, and treat cancer is essential to achieving the goals of the reignited Biden Cancer Moonshot—saving and extending lives, and boosting support for people and families facing cancer. Accelerating the fight against cancer is a core component of the President’s Unity Agenda, a set of priorities that Americans from every walk of life can support, including beating the opioid epidemic, tackling the mental health crisis, holding big tech accountable, meeting our sacred obligation to veterans, and ending cancer as we know it.
 
For decades, cancer drug and medical supply chain shortages have had serious impacts on patient care. These disruptions are immediately felt by patients, who, at best, experience unnecessary dread and uncertainty when they should be focused on healing, and, at worst, are forced to delay or even change treatment—this is especially harmful to children facing cancer who often have fewer treatment options than adults. The Biden-Harris Administration strongly believes that we can and we must take action to ensure all kids facing cancer have access to the treatments that their medical teams determine are best for them.
 
Today, the Biden Cancer Moonshot is announcing a new private sector pilot program to maintain uninterrupted access to seven pre-selected critical pediatric cancer medications. Pilot participants will develop stewardship standards focused on identifying shortage risks, promoting transparent inventory awareness, and fostering an effective approach to prevent patient care disruptions and maintain consistent drug distribution to children and families facing cancer.
 
“President Biden has worked tirelessly to ensure that American families have reliable access to the health care they need,” said Danielle Carnival, Deputy Assistant to the President for the Cancer Moonshot and Deputy Director for Health Outcomes at the Office of Science and Technology Policy. “Our goal is to build a collaborative, scalable, and transparent ecosystem that will provide effective treatment and improved care for children and families impacted by cancer. This new pilot will improve our supply chain, provide more timely and uninterrupted care to children facing cancer, and, ultimately, save lives.”
 
The pilot will launch before the end of the year and run into 2025. At the end of the pilot, the End Drug Shortages Alliance will publish a report on the pilot, including key learnings and opportunities to scale. The End Drug Shortages Alliance will coordinate participating health care providers, including Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Children’s National Hospital, Children’s Mercy Kansas City, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Texas Children’s Hospital; pharmaceutical wholesalers, Cencora and Morris & Dickson; and advising partners Angels for Change, Children’s Hospital Association, and US Pharmacopeia.
 
This pilot program builds on the work the Biden Cancer Moonshot has led to ensure that children and families facing cancer have equitable resources and access to diagnosis, treatment, research, and survivorship care. As part of the Biden Cancer Moonshot, the Biden-Harris Administration revived the White House Childhood Cancer Forum, backed and then the President signed the Childhood Cancer STAR Reauthorization Act to increase funding for childhood cancer research, and the Administration is actively working to implement the Research to Accelerate Cures and Equity or RACE for Children Act to identify and approve precision pediatric drugs quickly.
 
Most recently, in recognition of September as National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, the Biden Cancer Moonshot hosted the White House Roundtable on State Advocacy for Childhood Cancer, bringing together a diverse set of federal and state policymakers, health care experts, and childhood cancer advocates from across the country. Roundtable participants developed strategies and shared best practices that maximize state programs like cancer control plans and Medicaid to deliver new resources and support for families facing childhood cancer and developed plans to implement successful strategies to improve childhood cancer outcomes.
 
Since day one, the Biden-Harris Administration has been closely tracking and mitigating manufacturing and supply chain issues, with efforts underway to prevent future drug shortages and promote resilient supply chains. Last summer, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy convened leaders from across the generic oncology drug supply chain, including patient advocates, caregivers, and health care providers, to hear directly from those who are working on the ground to get lifesaving medicines into the hands of those who need them. In April, the Department of Health and Human Services released a white paper outlining policy steps to prevent future drug shortages, including proposing the establishment of a new Manufacturer Resiliency Assessment Program and a new Hospital Resilient Supply Program.

This news release was published by the White House on October 28, 2024.