What’s Pharma’s Key to Success in 2021?

What's Pharma's Key to Success in 2021? By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH What commercial and clinical trends can we expect to shape pharma and biotech as the pandemic continues into 2021? What can your company do to make 2021 a better year? In August, Deloitte surveyed 60 marketing leaders of biopharma companies and published the findings. Fully 80% of respondents expected changes in “consumer attitudes, behaviors, and spending” to have the biggest impact on their company over the coming year.1,2 This supports Deloitte’s 2019 report anticipating a “consumer-centered future of health,” including the consumer’s increased willingness to [...]

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Jan 2021By |0 Comments

Does Your Marketing Campaign Go Full Circle?

Does Your Marketing Campaign Go Full Circle? By Jeff Terkowitz Imagine being able to learn about your audience, test your messages with that audience, directly reach your target audience and then evaluate the campaign - all in one place. It’s possible. But let’s back up. Advertisers already understand the value of knowing their audience and testing their messages. The power of research-backed health communications is used at the federal level too in outreach campaigns. The “Pink Book” is the primer that the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and all government agencies [...]

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Dec 2020By |0 Comments

Living with a Mysterious Illness: Scleroderma

Living with a Mysterious Illness: Scleroderma By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH Unless you’re a specialist, you might not recognize a chronic disease that is named for its effect on the skin -- but might not appear there. It’s scleroderma. In fact, the symptoms vary greatly for each person: From 75-90% of patients have GI symptoms with it; it can be visible or invisible; it can come and go or last a lifetime; and can be mild or life threatening. The cause is unknown and it might appear at any age., It affects about 300,000 people in the [...]

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Dec 2020By |0 Comments

Good News about Lung Cancer? Thanks to Bench Science and Pharma

Good News about Lung Cancer? Thanks to Bench Science and Pharma By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH Targeted therapies, monoclonal antibodies, and immune checkpoint inhibitors are the good news - making a significant difference in lung cancer mortality, a new study states. Published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the report said, “Mortality from NSCLC decreased even faster than the incidence ...and this decrease was associated with a substantial improvement in survival over time that corresponded to the timing of approval of targeted therapy.” 1Posts and reassurances that people read while visiting the American Lung Association’s Lung [...]

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Nov 2020By |0 Comments

How Has COVID-19 Impacted Patients with Rare Conditions?

How Has COVID-19 Impacted Patients with Rare Conditions? By Judy Chandler Over 600,000 Inspire members are affected by rare conditions. As a vital partner to 40 rare disease non-profit advocacy organizations, Inspire’s rare disease patient and caregiver members represent over 3,000 rare conditions. Serving as a common point across these diverse conditions, Inspire was uniquely positioned to learn how rare disease communities were being affected by COVID-19.   First, we noticed a surge of COVID-19 posts across all of Inspire through the month of March. Inspire’s research team began by reviewing some of these member communications to identify [...]

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Oct 2020By |0 Comments

October 13th is Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day

October 13th is Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH The symbol for breast cancer awareness is a pink ribbon. But for people with the disease, one month and a pink ribbon are not enough. Many cancer drugs are evaluated by the amount of time the treatment delays progression, and despite new treatments and genetic advances, the 5-year survival rate for advanced or metastatic breast cancer is still just 27%. As Judy Perkins, diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2013, said, “I have little interest in pink ribbons… I don’t want a ribbon. I [...]

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Oct 2020By |0 Comments

Patients Are The Best Resource For Defining Study Endpoints

Patients Are The Best Resource For Defining Study Endpoints By Robert Gardner In September, the World Orphan Drug Congress USA Fall Webinar series opened with a program called: “Understanding the Novel Challenges in Rare Disease Development: Perspectives From Experts.” They took an audience poll, asking attendees to identify their “biggest challenge in rare disease studies” from five choices, including competition for patients; lack of understanding of disease progression; development of appropriate endpoints; lack of data; and global regulatory pathways. Almost half the respondents -- 46% -- chose “development of appropriate endpoints” as the biggest challenge in rare [...]

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Oct 2020By |0 Comments

September is Blood Cancer Awareness Month

September is Blood Cancer Awareness Month By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH The term “blood cancer” encompasses so many complex disorders that Inspire has several support communities focused on blood cancers, including groups for Leukemia, Lymphoma, Myeloma, and Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS). According to Inspire’s partner, the Leukemia Research Foundation, these four blood cancers impact about 1.3 million people in the United States and their families.1 This year there are expected to be 60,300 people newly diagnosed with leukemia; 83,200 with Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin lymphoma; and 31,000 with myeloma.2 Myleodysplastic syndromes are rarer, with an estimated 10,000 cases total [...]

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Sep 2020By |0 Comments

For Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month: Teal Sisters Support Each Other and Discuss Treatments on Inspire

For Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month: Teal Sisters Support Each Other and Discuss Treatments on Inspire By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. The Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA), Inspire’s partner, is holding its 2020 National Conference, “Uniting for Hope,” virtually from Sept. 29 - Oct. 2 this year. One of the conference’s popular gatherings is always “Ask the Experts,” Q&A sessions between attendees and specialists. The topics this year include genetic testing, clinical trial participation, and managing recurrence. Another top event is the Teal Takeover Party, where Teal Sisters and their friends get [...]

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Sep 2020By |0 Comments

Online Health Communities Change Patients’ Journeys: A Live Virtual Roundtable

Online Health Communities Change Patients’ Journeys: A Live Virtual Roundtable By Dana Deighton In the fable of the Ugly Duckling, the duckling feels isolated by his differences until he discovers that he is a swan too. Patients with undiagnosed conditions also feel isolated, with some even describing not being believed by their doctors or even their friends or families. One member with scleroderma shared her story: I spent 27 years seeking help --- every type of specialist, tests, hospitalizations, medications of every type, anything to put a name to my misery, not being treated like an attention-seeking patient. [...]

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Sep 2020By |0 Comments