Joe Dunford
Senior Vice President of Specialty Brands EMENA, Accord Healthcare
To innovate in disease treatment, including the field of prostate cancer medicine, pharma companies need to put patients at the heart of everything they do.
The toll a cancer diagnosis takes on so many lives is driving pharma companies around the world to do more and innovate faster in the oncology space.
For example, Accord Healthcare has 75 oncology and oncology-related treatments across its portfolio and provides more than one in four injectable oncology medicines dispensed in Europe. Plus, it has molecules showing huge promise in the fields of lung cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer.
Engaging with prostate cancer patient groups
Prostate cancer has been a focus for the company for over a decade. However, in the last two years, it has sharpened that focus significantly by launching innovative prostate cancer medicines.
Naturally, this type of advance in disease treatment doesn’t happen in a vacuum, explains Joe Dunford, Senior Vice President of Specialty Brands EMENA, Accord Healthcare. To bring better, more relevant medicines to the marketplace, it’s vital for the company to engage with patient groups and advocates. “They are our first port of call because we need to understand the patient’s point of view clearly,” says Dunford. “They provide us with valuable insights that can help improve health outcomes for patients while improving disease management for healthcare professionals.”
Men must be willing to talk about prostate cancer
The company also supports prostate cancer patients by sponsoring a patient-led podcast called The Unmentionables, which launched earlier this year and is hosted by prostate cancer advocate and sports broadcaster, Jeff Stelling. “The podcast is a resource for those affected by prostate cancer,” says Dunford. “It talks about things that men don’t want to talk about, like practical and sometimes embarrassing problems that can be a side effect of treatment, such as incontinence and erectile dysfunction. It’s somewhere patients and their families can go to get unfiltered and unbiased information.”
To bring better, more relevant medicines to the marketplace, it’s
vital for the company to engage with patient groups and advocates.
Because it can be so difficult for men to talk about prostate cancer, the podcast has also created its own digital Unmentionables discussion guide. This provides a list of prompts and questions that patients can personalise and use when talking to their clinical teams. “Patients, who could be feeling stressed, want to get the most value from the limited time they have with their healthcare professionals,” says Dunford. “The guide is designed to structure the conversation in a way that’s most useful for them.”
Screening for high-risk men
Ultimately, though, Dunford admits that one of the best ways Accord can help men in the fight against prostate cancer is by highlighting the importance of early diagnosis. This is why the company is championing Prostate Cancer Research’s campaign to introduce screening for high-risk groups. “There’s always potential for a breakthrough or innovation in prostate cancer treatment,” agrees Dunford. “Right now, men need to be diagnosed early and then take — at the right time and with the right frequency — the treatment options currently available.”
