Luke Thomas, Chief Executive Officer at World Child Cancer, shared on LinkedIn:
“I would like to share a reflection on our symposium with Amgen at this year’s International Society of Paediatric Oncology – SIOP global conference.
The topic of the session was effective collaboration, and was intended as a bit of a ‘look behind the curtain’ at how two seemingly wildly different organisations have managed to build a transformative collaboration that is so impactful.
Amgen is a large and successful biotech company and World Child Cancer is a relatively small but impactful INGO working in countries where Amgen has no presence. It would be easy for either of us to be overwhelmed by the potential power and resource imbalance.
But we’re not.
The reason for that is that right from the start we both asked the question: ‘What do children with cancer need that they are not currently getting, and how could we change that by working together?’
What has followed since 2023 is probably the most positive and impactful corporate/INGO relationship I have ever been part of.
We’re only half way through our planned programme and we’re already seeing significant improvements in the healthcare systems, quality of care, healthcare workforce and survival rates.
This doesn’t happen by accident.
We are able to explore opportunities together, share expertise and insights (not just money), be open about red lines or challenges when they arise, and be flexible about what needs to be done because we have a shared strategic objective and values.
This is because the Amgen team, Sean Lybrand, Philip Anderson, Jon Hicks and the senior leadership have taken the time to get to know the work, the local teams and the organisations we work alongside. And World Child Cancer has recognised that Amgen brings way more than just money to the table.
We both know what we are good at, and where we carry each other.
That, for me, is what transformative collaboration looks like.”
