Evolving World of Pharma: Patient centricity – what took us so long?

Patient centricity is formally defined as the process of designing a service or solution around the patient. I should probably admit that when I first heard the term – about 15 years ago – I thought it was a bit of a marketing gimmick. However, as we begin the second decade of the 21st century, patient centricity has taken hold of the pharma industry and is set to impact the way in which drugs are developed, manufactured and marketed.

Perhaps it’s only natural that I first came upon this concept in the marketing arena. After all, it makes sense to ask patients how to best communicate key messages to other patients, and which of those messages might be most meaningful. However, the past decade has seen a trend for patient centricity throughout the drug development pipeline. As more drugs are developed for targeted population cohorts, this trend has been driven by the fact that research is increasingly focussed on complex compounds and orphan designations. This has brought about a new age of targeted therapies and personalized approaches and, as pharma companies target smaller patient cohorts, the patient is becoming more central to the development of those drugs.

To be truly ‘patient-centric’, the patient needs to be considered at every stage of drug development. Every dose decision, the choice of delivery vehicle, clinical trial outcomes, administration instructions and packaging all have a direct impact on the patient. Therefore, understanding patient needs – and building an organization that is dedicated to addressing them – is the core of patient centricity. This concept holds true regardless of whether the organization is a pharma company, health supply company, biotech, healthcare service provider, CRO or CDMO.

As explained by Stuart E. Needleman, Chief Commercial Officer at Piramal Pharma Solutions, in last year’s CPhI Annual Industry Report, “For CDMOs like Piramal, this means a new mindset and culture for the organization defined by a fundamental objective of reducing the burden of disease, and how we approach developing and commercial drug substance and product. At every level, the internal staff must transform their identity, shifting from self-identifying as a manufacturing company to thinking and acting like a service company. Of course, the company will still produce products, and it must remain driven to deliver for its customers. But the emphasis shifts from what those products are in and of themselves, to what the products can do for patients.”

At a practical level, this means delivering new engagement schemes throughout the workforce so that employees understand the importance of what they do, and how their efforts have a real-world impact on patients. The concept seems simple, but it requires dialogue with patients at all stages of drug development. Such dialogue is inevitably complex, considering inter-patient variabilities in needs and opinions. We must also remember that patients are not experts in pharma – they need to be listened to, but their advice needs to be considered sensibly and practically. The key lies in finding the value points in the patient dialogue process and sifting through personal opinions and requirements to reach important insights that are beneficial to patients and the pharma companies alike.  

The involvement of patients in the development of new drugs – from designing a clinical trial protocol to planning a marketing campaign – is mirrored by a timely increase in patients’ desire for more knowledge about their own care. Modern technologies and smartphone apps provide tools for monitoring health and lifestyle factors, empowering patients to learn about, and take control of, their own treatments. Simultaneously, and not unrelated, is the growth of patient and charitable groups directly funding discovery programs.

In conclusion, the trend for greater patient centricity is likely to impact every player in the pharma supply chain, at every stage of drug development. As pharma companies re-focus their gaze on the end consumers of their products, service providers wishing to stay in the game would be wise to follow suit.

When done correctly, placing the patient at the centre of the pharma industry should help us to develop better medicines that are better suited to end consumers. And actually, when you look at it like that, you can’t help wondering why it took us so long.

Author biography

Sarah Harding, PhD

Sarah Harding worked as a medical writer and consultant in the pharmaceutical industry for 15 years, for the last 10 years of which she owned and ran her own medical communications agency that provided a range of services to blue-chip Pharma companies. In 2016, she began a new career in publishing as Editor of Speciality Chemicals Magazine, and has more recently taken up the role of Editorial Director at Chemicals Knowledge. She continues to also provide independent writing and consultancy services to the pharmaceutical and speciality chemicals industry.

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