Fewer than half of women with ovarian cancer are still alive five years after their diagnosis. AstraZeneca is teaming with a physicians group and a coalition of patient advocacy organizations to try to change that grim statistic.
The U.K-based pharma giant has unveiled a new Ovarian Cancer Commitment (OCC) initiative aiming to improve survival and the quality of life for women diagnosed with the disease.
"Medicines will get us so far, but it's going to take a real collaboration amongst stakeholders if we're going to improve survival outcomes for these patients," Andy Barnett, AstraZeneca’s global franchise head for GU and GYN cancers, said in an interview.
The OCC was born out of two years of discussions among AZ, the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) and the European Network of Gynaecological Cancer Advocacy Groups (ENGAGe), a network of over 70 European patient advocacy groups focusing on gynecological cancer care.
By building on best practices, the partnership aims to improve access to diagnostics, genetic and biomarker testing, and specialized treatment while developing better ways to support women living with the disease.
Its first project is scaling a digital patient pathway developed by a patient advocacy group in Hungary. Barnett said the coalition was impressed with how the program guided patients through each step of their ovarian cancer journey and hopes to expand it throughout Europe and eventually worldwide.
“We liked the idea of not only giving the facts and the clinical explanation of what was happening at each stage, but also the experience patients might be having and what they might be thinking,” Barnett said. “It was different from what we’d seen before.”
Another priority is boosting the number of specialty care centers for ovarian cancer to increase access to quality care. Although ovarian cancer is the deadliest of all gynecological cancers, ESGO has compiled evidence showing the quality of the surgery to remove the cancer can make a difference in the outcome.
The coalition is inviting other professional organizations, patient groups and pharmaceutical companies to join the effort in hopes of "creating a movement." Barnett said each partner brings a unique skill set to the table, with AZ contributing financial resources and expertise in communication and disease awareness and ESGO and ENGAGe sharing the oncologist and patient perspectives, respectively.
“If we can get the magic right between patients, professional societies and industry, we can actually make a meaningful difference for these patients,” he said.
AstraZeneca’s top-selling PARP inhibitor Lynparza, co-developed with Merck & Co., treats women with advanced ovarian cancer with and without BRCA mutations. The drug, which boasts multiple cancer indications, competes in the market with GlaxoSmithKline’s Zejula and Clovis Oncology’s Rubraca. It brought in $2.35 billion in sales for AZ last year.