In our last couple of blogs, we’ve been looking at the relationship between Advocacy and Pharma – especially the growing impact it has. So what can we expect to see over the next year from these collaborations? 

We might sound like a broken record here, but there is so much opportunity left on the table when we consider the potential Advocacy has to drive research forward for patients. These are spaces that will no doubt be grown into as 2023 goes on. In our previous blog, we discussed the role of Advocacy in closing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion gaps, so today we’ll discuss other areas of potential collaboration that we expect to see evolve this year. 

Firstly, it’s important to separate these partnerships into two buckets:

1. Partnering with Advocacy for study-specific awareness campaigns
2. Partnering with Advocacy long-term, with activities including building trust and supporting patient education

The second is where the potential lies this year. We’re already seeing many more of our Pharma partners invest in building teams dedicated to this long-term, rich approach to partnering.  

How this looks day to day is so varied, but we see/enable live Q+As, joint “Clubhouse” conversations, patient roundtables, joint in-person events, collaborative whitepapers. The list really is endless. 

So why are these activities so important? Not only is it important for Pharma and their exciting research as they invest in building trust and credibility within patient communities, but it also helps build the capacity of the Advocacy groups. This reciprocal relationship ends up serving patients from both a top-down and bottom-up approach:

1. More successful research means there are more treatment options at the end
2. A stronger Advocacy group can provide even more support and resources to patients

We’re ready to keep forming links between our Advocacy friends and Pharma partners, so these fruitful relationships continue to evolve beyond the study-to-study view. In 2023, we see more dedication than ever to this – we can’t wait!