How LifeBank is tackling maternal mortality by improving supply chains

One of LifeBank’s 2,500 customers, the Zenith Medical and Kidney Centre in Nigeria’s capital Abuja, has been counting on LifeBank as their go-to center for blood banking for the past three years. Before, the center often faced challenges accessing safe blood for transfusions. But since partnering with LifeBank, “There is always blood available whenever we need it,” said Kanne Nzeribe Anuli, the center’s head of laboratory services, adding that “You can [sometimes] run around looking for blood for your patient, and LifeBank makes our lives easier.”

LifeBank’s technology makes it possible to track big-picture trends and predict upfront what type of blood is needed, and at what location. “A lot of blood that is collected goes to waste because it has a limited shelf life. So you have to match the blood coming in with the blood that you actually deliver,” said Yusuf Sidina'Allah Ismail, the public sector lead at LifeBank Nigeria.

Technology doesn’t only help with predicting need, it also helps ensure the safety of the blood delivered. LifeBank’s SmartBag technology, built on blockchain, makes the delivery of blood safer as it improves the transparency and accountability of each blood bag to make sure it’s traceable and tamper-proof. It also uses a QR code to collect and share critical information about each bag, explained Sidina'Allah Ismail.

By being technology-driven, LifeBank has managed to solve one of the biggest issues in maternal health. “They’re definitely on the forefront from a technology point of view. … There's a lot of talk about technology, but people actually doing it — that's amazing,” said Ruud van der Geer, the lead for global delivery strategy at pharmaceutical company MSD, who is providing technical assistance to LifeBank’s supply chain operations team.

Since 2020, MSD for Mothers has supported LifeBank with $2 million in grant capital to help Giwa-Tubosun scale the business and become more investable by building more capacity around the finance team. “With improved finance capabilities, these enterprises may be better situated to secure funding from other investors such as the DFC [U.S. International Development Finance Corporation],” Allen said.

According to Allen, technology in itself is also helping to de-risk investments into social enterprises such as LifeBank. Data serves as a type of quality assurance that can quickly give anyone an overview of how a company is performing and potential areas for improvement, he explained. “You start to be able to crowd in more financing because you have viable businesses with very clear transparency in terms of how they're operating and what their economics are, and so they become less risky.”

For LifeBank’s Sidina'Allah Ismail, the collaboration with MSD for Mothers goes beyond just financing. It has also provided them with technical assistance around compliance and help in areas such as fundraising and recruitment. For example, the MSD for Mothers team was able to help LifeBank achieve a 100% compliance rate with their cold chain distribution standards. “They also supported us in securing funding for our SmartAccess Project which is aimed at scaling access to new and lesser-used drugs for postpartum hemorrhage,” he said.

Earlier this year, LifeBank announced a partnership with Barcelona-based artificial intelligence company benshi.ai to leverage their AI and machine learning platform to reach even more patients. “By integrating their technology with our blockchain and data science technologies, we will be able to expand our suite of innovative solutions aimed at rapidly accelerating the digitization of the health care supply chain and service delivery across the African continent,” Sidina'Allah Ismail said. The partnership will also help them scale their last-mile distribution network through the Nerve app and ultimately improve patient outcomes in LifeBank partner hospitals, he explained.

Sidina'Allah Ismail is excited about LifeBank’s growth in the coming years. Right now, they are working on consolidating their presence and reach in the three countries where they currently operate. “At the same time as we’re investing in these countries and trying to expand our operations, we're also laying the groundwork to expand to other African countries,” he said. 

For potential investors, that means an opportunity to be a part of a company revolutionizing the health care industry economy, he explained. “We are pan-African, and our opportunities to grow are limitless.”