17th annual eyeforpharma Philadelphia (Commercial, Digital and Patients)

Apr 16, 2019 - Apr 17, 2019, Philadelphia

800+ pharma leaders join together to discuss how to revolutionize the patient experience – and, accordingly, their commercial performance.

Philadelphia 2019: Patient Initiative Finalists Revealed

We have whittled it down to the final five. Here are the contenders for the Most Valuable Patient Initiative award



What makes our species so unique is our ability to spread ideas. This cross-pollination has enabled peace and prosperity to flourish, and ignorance to be supplanted by understanding.

Each of the innovative programs recognized in this year’s awards have made a meaningful contribution to improving people’s lives. Perhaps they have eased the burden on patients, or helped HCPs navigate the demands of their job, or entered a fruitful collaboration. Through sharing their ideas, we hope you too will be inspired.

The winner of the Most Valuable Patient Initiative award will be an innovative project designed to deliver tangible patient improvements both in the long and short term. Demonstrating a real understanding of the patient requirements prior to implementation, the winning project will have been managed to an outstanding level and will have made an exceptionally positive impact on its intended customer.

Here are the finalists:

Defining and Selecting the Right Patients for A Co-Creation Program
AstraZeneca & HealthiVibe, LLC

Patient collaboration has long been the industry's watchword. AstraZeneca’s patient initiative reflects that it is now happening on the ground.

AstraZeneca’s Patient Partnership Program is a comprehensive strategy that provides a long-term, sustainable relationship between a pharmaceutical company and patients/caregivers, creating a new model for the co-creation of products and supportive services.  Using HealthiVibe’s expertise in patient selection; patients and caregivers are able to truly sit at the table alongside teams at AZ to provide feedback on all aspects of their clinical and commercial programs. 

By ensuring that candidates have knowledge and experience with a range of topics, the program allows for participants to quickly co-create with AstraZeneca’s internal teams across the drug development lifecycle and provide deeper, more meaningful insights.

However, every project seeking patient insight is vetted to ensure that it not only meets a particular business need but also provides value back to patients and/or caregivers. Examples of such projects include designing patient-friendly clinical study protocols, creating clinical study information and patient support programs with patient-friendly language and relevant content, and launching a trial results summary portal for all AstraZeneca studies that is easy for patients and their loved ones to access and navigate.

EGPA Patients’ Needs and Journey
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)

EGPA (Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis), formerly known as Churg Strauss syndrome, is a rare disease (estimated 5000 patients in the US) with devastating health implications to patients. In December 2017, GSK’s NUCALA became the first (and to date, the only) FDA-approved medicine for EGPA.

The objective of GSK’s US Medical Affairs team was to best understand the EGPA patient and caregiver perspectives on their journey living with this devastating disease and managing it, and try to identify gaps in patient needs that could potentially be addressed by GSK, including improving the patient journey and reducing delays in diagnosis and treatment. 

The approval and availability of NUCALA for EGPA as the only approved treatment option for appropriate patients, is substantially impacting many patient’s lives.  The team has initiated an innovative collaboration on the first ever EGPA registry with advocacy groups, patient-focused research consortia, and academia; with the patient at the center of everything.

GSK may obtain clinical information that would benefit patients and reduce time to diagnosis and assess effectiveness of treatments.  It funded a research project aiming to develop an algorithm to facilitate EGPA diagnosis, a major unmet need in EGPA.  As many healthcare professionals are not knowledgeable about EGPA disease and management, GSK promoted HCP awareness of EGPA and its diagnosis and management, which may improve the EGPA patients’ journey.  Communication with payers has improved appropriate patients’ access to NUCALA for EGPA.  The Team’s efforts helped EGPA patients to achieve GSK’s mission statement: ‘Do More, Feel Better, Live Longer’.

KEY+YOU | Support Program for Patients Taking KEYTRUDA
MicroMass Communications, Inc.

The impact of patient-centricity is arguably most manifest within patient support programs. The KEY+YOU PSP is a testament to this dynamism.

KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) is a pioneering cancer therapy that is currently approved to treat more than 9 different types of cancer.

This innovative therapy required an equally innovative patient support program. Merck needed a support program that addressed cancer patient needs across indications. The program had to be simple, scalable, and sustainable so it could easily adapt and grow with future approvals.

KEY+YOU is a support program for patients who are currently taking KEYTRUDA and their caregivers. KEY+YOU includes resources and information to help patients and caregivers manage the practical and emotional challenges they are facing.

The program is delivered through multiple channels, including a website, emails, direct mail, and nurse calls. It addresses the diverse, or whole patient needs of cancer patients by using evidence-based behavioral approaches. Although cancer types have clinical differences, there are common functional and psychosocial needs. KEY+YOU transforms the patient’s experience, allowing them to discover their personal wellness.

Feedback at the end of the program was overwhelmingly positive:

  • 94% of patients believed that they could talk to their health care team and loved ones about concerns related to cancer and treatment 
  • 94% of patients felt that they could follow through with an infusion schedule
  • 92% of patients agreed that KEY+YOU helped them to identify and meet their day-to-day needs related to having cancer
  • 90% of patients felt like they could process, cope, and manage the emotional stress that comes with having cancer
  • 88%of patients were satisfied with the support they received 
  • 86%of patients would recommend the KEY+YOU program to others

Hemocraft – Reimagining Patient Education
Pfizer

Gamification is a growing area of interest for pharma companies as they explore new ways to engage patients. Pfizer’s US rare disease team recognized its potential as an education tool for young patients, who feel out of step with outdated educational resources.    

In partnership with the Entrepreneurial Game Studio at Drexel University, the National Hemophilia Foundation, and members of the hemophilia community, Pfizer Hemophilia developed HEMOCRAFT—an educational tool that aims to teach kids the importance of staying prepared and sticking to their treatment plan.

The game allows players to explore a whole new world while learning the importance of managing their hemophilia and sticking to their treatment plan.  Students will follow a unique quest, where along the way, they will be forced to gather factor, assemble their own device and simulate the reconstitution process. 

Hemocraft has gained notable media traction. Twelve original media placements reached an audience of more than 25M. The press release was picked up by 310 online outlets including Yahoo! Finance, Seeking Alpha, and The Wall Street Journal. Readers shared the Hemocraft news on social media, with Twitter being the most popular channel, gaining more than 350 mentions by more than 270 unique handles, resulting in an estimated 1.2M impressions.

Those playing the game over this past year enjoyed it enough to come back more 4 times per average user and to cumulatively spend over 3.5 hours each learning in this digital environment.  Looking forward, we will are planning to work with patient and provider groups to identify new settings where the game can be utilized.

Ouchie
Upside Health

There is enormous pressure on chronic pain patients to manage complex care plans. The pain itself can make patients incredibly isolated and frustrated. It’s an issue that touches more than 116 million Americans a year. 

The Upside Health team designed, developed and launched Ouchie, a mobile companion for pain management – a free application for iOS, Android and tablet that helps support a chronic pain patient on their journey. The application allows for tracking/journaling, connection to others who live with similar pain, access to valuable and targeted content (including meditations). The platform then rewards patients for recording their daily accomplishments, following their treatment plans and helping others along the way.

The numbers are encouraging. Since its launch at the end of March 2018, thousands of patients have used the app. After less than one month on the platform, 89% of the patients felt like they could effectively manage their pain, 83% were more likely to try or adopt a new treatment.

The success of the application has led to additional excitement and interest from health systems and payers, as to how they can integrate this into their offerings.

Your exclusive opportunity to witness these, plus many other real world, successful case studies awaits! Find out more about the Awards Pitch Day North America here.

 

 

 

 

 



17th annual eyeforpharma Philadelphia (Commercial, Digital and Patients)

Apr 16, 2019 - Apr 17, 2019, Philadelphia

800+ pharma leaders join together to discuss how to revolutionize the patient experience – and, accordingly, their commercial performance.