Meghan Lopresto and Trish Norris from The Cementbloc joined (the virtual) Jeff Oliver from Celgene to share a case study from a patient advocacy campaign called the Pledge to Fight Forward.
This team works in metastatic breast cancer. It’s stage 4 of breast cancer – when the breast cancer cells spread into the body. It effects 170,000 people. And, it’s a terminal disease. One that can be held at bay, but cannot be cured. The average survivorship is three years.
It’s an incredibly hard diagnosis to know how to cope with. Most of these people have had a primary cancer. Something they were inspired to find and beat. That’s very different than knowing how to accept and deal with a terminal disease.
There is deep, vocal, support for people fighting breast cancer – advocacy, fundraising, community support. But a lot of that drops off when you reach stage 4. In the breast cancer community, the focus is really on survivors.
So Celgene asked people dealing with metastatic breast cancer what they needed and wanted for help and support. Practical daily support, definitely. But also empathy – an understanding that it’s no longer about the pink ribbon, it’s about extending life.
Celgene’s relavant product is Abraxane. It competes against generic options. Of course, patients and physicians ask, ”Is this treatment worth the cost?” The opportunity for Celegene was to deliver those services and support that help deliver optimal patient care (and can’t be matched by generics).
In the Pledge to Fight Forward, Celgene invested in igniting a sense of hope and optimism, educating patients and their caregiver partners, and joining them in a shared mission during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The critical part (that tested well) was the The Pledge – finding something to fight for again. Keeping an optimistic spirit for making progress without looking back. Being able to do something.
Creating a site like this required a strong partnership with the regulatory team. It was Celgene’s first DTC campaign; so, they had to fully illustrate relevant experience to help regulatory understand the issues and create a review plan. That included creating the brand’s first social media policy.
Look for The Pledge to expand its reach in the years to come – through new indications, advocacy partnerships and PR initiatives.
The Pledge is the cornerstone of Celgene’s commitment to these communities and how their internal teams stay close to the patients and families they ultimately serve.
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