The Swiss healthcare technology startup Axmed received a $5 million award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Wednesday to increase access to life-saving medications in Sub-Saharan Africa.
This funding aims to transform how maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) commodities are procured, unlocking up to $10 million in MNCH procurement across several African countries.
Matching fund to expand affordable access
The $5 million grant will be deployed as a matching fund, providing a 1:1 match on government procurement of MNCH commodities through the Axmed Medicines Platform. This approach strengthens national procurement capacity by offering Ministries of Health immediate liquidity and access to quality-assured medicines. The initiative drives cost-efficiency and enhances supply security by pooling procurement and aggregating demand, ensuring that essential medicines reach vulnerable populations more reliably.
Cynthia Mwase, Director of Health in Africa at the Gates Foundation, emphasized the impact, stating, “Reducing the number of preventable deaths of mothers and babies is key to our work in sub-Saharan Africa. This partnership with Axmed and local health leaders is an important step forward in ensuring that life-saving innovations reach the communities where they can make the greatest difference.”
Innovative platform driving procurement efficiency
Axmed’s digital platform aggregates demand across countries and consolidates procurement, enabling significant cost savings. In 2024, the platform achieved average savings of 20–30%, with some MNCH products realizing up to 80% cost reductions. The platform also partners with global logistics providers to ensure end-to-end delivery with full tracking and traceability, improving the reliability of medicine supply chains.
Emmanuel Akpakwu, Founder and CEO of Axmed, highlighted the broader goal, stating, “Our goal is not just to deliver quality medicines faster and more affordably but to help build more resilient and efficient procurement systems for the future.” The grant builds on previous successes, such as in Rwanda, where the platform has already improved the sustainable delivery of high-quality medicines across multiple therapeutic areas.
This initiative was announced during a high-level roundtable at the 78th World Health Assembly, which brought together Ministers of Health, procurement leaders, and representatives from global health organizations and philanthropic partners. Dr. Loko Abraham, CEO of Rwanda Medical Supply, noted, “Through this matching fund, our partnership will expand this impact even further, reaching the most vulnerable with urgency and precision.”
The Gates Foundation’s investment in Axmed represents a strategic move to leverage technology and catalytic financing to address persistent gaps in medicine access, particularly in low-resource settings where weak procurement systems and constrained budgets hinder the availability of essential MNCH commodities.
