Opinion

Apr 15, 2025, 10:17

Scott Howard Advocates for Blinatumomab in WHO’s Essential Medicines List

At “The Essential Medicines for Children with Cancer: From Access to Action” virtual forum organized by OncoDaily, Dr. Scott Howard highlighted the importance of Blinatumomab for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

As Deputy Director of the Yeolyan Hematology/Oncology Center and CEO of Resonance, Dr. Howard advocated for its inclusion in the WHO Essential Medicines List for Children, citing strong clinical outcomes.

🧬 Points covered in his session:

Today’s powerful session made one thing unmistakably clear: blinatumomab (Blina) is not just another drug – it’s a life-saving innovation that can and should be available to every child diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), regardless of where they live.

Here’s what we learned:

When Blinatumomab is added to frontline chemotherapy, survival rates improve by 10–30%. In infants—a group with especially poor outcomes—a single cycle of Blinatumomab boosted survival from 50% to 80%. These are real numbers with real children behind them.

Even more powerful: Blinatumomab dramatically reduces the chance of relapse. In clinical studies, relapse rates dropped from 13% to just 4% when Blina was added. And with fewer relapses, children often avoid the need for bone marrow transplants—cutting not only costs but long-term side effects too.

It’s not just effective. Blinatumomab is cost-effective, even in low- and middle-income countries. From Mexico to France, economic studies have shown that Blinatumomab is a smart investment – not just medically, but financially. When given early in treatment (not after multiple relapses), its value is even greater.

The human impact can’t be overstated. Children treated with Blina in the frontline go on to live healthy, normal lives: they attend school, play sports, get jobs, start families. They survive – not just for a few months, but for a full, meaningful life.

We can’t accept a world where a child’s chance of surviving cancer depends on geography. We have the evidence. We have the tools. We now need the global commitment to act.

“So imagine a world in which only 4 percent of children relapse because they have access to chemotherapy plus blinatumomab. And now imagine a world where you don’t have to imagine – because this is today’s world.”

About the Forum

The Essential Medicines for Children with Cancer: From Access to Action by OncoDaily focuses on the WHO Essential Medicines List for Children, the new applications including Blinatumomab and Temozolomide, the challenges different low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are facing with the access to medications and the role of initiatives such as ACT4Children and the Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines (GPACCM).

Essential Medicines for Children with Cancer