‘Partnership is not a posture but a process – a continuous process that grows stronger each year as we devote ourselves to common tasks’ John F Kennedy
Collaboration between industry and patient organisations has always been important and should always continue to be so.
The pharmaceutical industry is the most patient focused it has ever been, with around 80% of the top pharmaceutical companies citing a patient-centred approach as a core value in their organisation. But what does a truly patient-centric approach mean? It’s a broad term that takes different forms and has varying degrees. Patient centricity and patient engagement are inherently linked but are different. For Makara Health, patient centricity is a mindset and patient engagement is the delivery, the ways in which patient centricity is delivered.
With impending, industry-wide changes to measurements and reporting guidance for patient-focused drug development (PFDD) encouraging an end-to-end patient strategy, are pharmaceutical companies across the board ready for this upcoming change in 2025? To be truly patient-centric throughout the product life cycle, industry must:
- Consistently embrace a patient-centric mindset and keep the patient front of mind
- Consider how to interact in every way with the groups that represent those patients.
Makara Health undertook an in-depth listening exercise at the beginning of 2023 to uncover how critical partnerships between industry and the third sector can be enhanced for the good of patients. There are some great partnerships out there. However, taking the time to fully understand the patient group perspective on how they can be improved and deepened enabled Makara to develop their inaugural Good Patient Partnership Guide. It contains concise insights and clear, tangible recommendations for industry professionals striving to initiate or improve engagement policy and process. For those already doing great work who are looking to up their game in this space, the report offers ‘great’ and ‘stellar’ recommendations.
If you want to know more about the insights and recommendations you can access the Guide at makarahealth.com/patient-partnership
A second iteration of the Guide is on the cards so if you would like a voice at the table please get in touch by emailing MHPatientInsightandSupportteamINT@precisionmedicinegrp.com, and if you are interested in the output keep an eye out in mid-2024 for the second edition.
