Welcome to the MIT SCM Research Symposium 2024 and thank you for joining us! We hope you find the day exciting and informative. To enhance your experience, we are utilizing this platform in order to help identify projects of top interest to you. Below you will find not only the schedule, but also the abstracts and attached executive summaries of each project. Additionally, you can better acquaint yourself with the student presenters and advisors through their profiles. Thank you again and we look forward to hosting you.
Access to cancer medicines remains a significant challenge in many Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), limiting patients' ability to receive timely and affordable treatment. This study aims to analyze the impact of the pharmaceutical downstream supply chain on patient access to oncology medicines in LMICs. Utilizing a system dynamics approach, we developed a comprehensive causal loop diagram, CLD, to map the complex interactions between key variables and stakeholders in the downstream value chain. Qualitative data from interviews with PharmaCo experts and insights from a World Health Organization technical report were used to construct and validate the CLD. The analysis highlighted several key feedback loops influencing affordability and availability of cancer medicines, including market scale, competition, insurance support, and inventory management. Reinforcing and balancing effects among these loops were identified, highlighting the trade-offs and challenges in ensuring patient access. The study also examined the roles and interests of various stakeholders, such as manufacturers, distributors, healthcare providers, insurers, and governments. This research emphasizes the importance of a holistic, system-level understanding of the downstream supply chain dynamics to develop effective strategies for increasing patient access to life-saving cancer treatments in LMICs.
