Session (CTI)

ISSUE. Pharmaceutical companies increasingly articulate commitments to patient-centricity, yet the concept remains vague, variably defined, and inconsistently operationalized across the industry. In contrast, patient-centeredness in medicine is a well-established construct, coined by Enid Balint in 1969, expanded by Mead and Bower’s 2000 framework for doctor–patient relationships, and reinforced by the Institute of Medicine’s designation of patient-centeredness as a core dimension of healthcare quality in 2001. By contrast, the term is much newer for the pharmaceutical sector, surfacing in 1993 in the context of drug promotion and marketing and gaining traction in 2012, alongside regulatory initiatives such as the FDA’s Patient-Focused Drug Development program. In this session, panelists will propose robust frameworks with definitions, outcomes, and methods for evaluating patient centricity in the pharmaceutical industry, that can help sponsors as they develop a comprehensive patient centered corporate strategy and move beyond patient engagement in clinical research. OVERVIEW: In this session, the moderator will provide background and characterize current practices across companies. Industry panelists will discuss case examples, frameworks and performance indicators being developed to support patient centricity and along with challenges in addressing tensions between patient and corporate goals. Patients will provide experiences and perceptions of patient centricity within the sector and recommend considerations for improving practices. An academic and ethicist will offer ethical considerations and a framework to guide pharmaceutical company-patient relationships, informed by a literature review and focus groups with patients and clinicians (in oncology and infectious disease). The outcome of this session will include proposal of comprehensive frameworks to guide pharmaceutical company-patient relationships and translate commitments into coherent organizational strategy and accountable practice.