Lung cancer biomarker campaign, launched with AstraZeneca, boosts its reach and adds pharma supporters

The groups are called the MET Crusaders, the EGFR Resistors, the KRAS Kickers and the ROS1ders — and members are non small cell lung cancer patients who share the same biomarkers. The groups, though, are also avid cancer biomarker testing advocates and supporters of LUNGevity’s “No One Missed” campaign to encourage comprehensive testing in lung cancer.

LUNGevity launched the campaign with the backing of co-founding partner AstraZeneca more than two years ago, but now includes more than a dozen other supporting pharmas such as Amgen, Bayer, Sanofi, Daiichi-Sankyo, Genentech, Merck, Regeneron, Eli Lilly, Novartis and Takeda.

As part of its expansion, the campaign launched its first TV ad public service announcements earlier this year with real patients at the center. Juanita Segura, who is part of a patient biomarker group called ALK Positive, talks about her biomarker testing experience in one of two TV spots now running, along with Jaymie Bowles, who was a 32-year-old non-smoker when she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Social media “No One Missed” ads are running to drive people to the campaign website.

Along with the ads, LUNGevity is looking to expand its promotional efforts outside the US and possibly to different kinds of cancers that have biomarkers, but also doubling down on reaching people who don’t have easy access to testing. Black and Hispanic Americans, for example, have a higher lung cancer mortality rate than white counterparts but less access to biomarker testing.

Linda Wenger, LUNGevity’s chief marketing officer, said the organization is trying to reach two different groups — the general public to raise general biomarker awareness, but also now focusing on how to reach medically underserved populations.

Linda Wenger

A beta test just begun in Atlanta is incorporating the broader promotional efforts with on-the-ground work, partnering with local medical hospitals, clinics and physicians along with nonprofit community healthcare groups, she said. LUNGevity is tracking progress there and will evaluate the potential for more cities in the future.

The group is also planning to expand “No One Missed” work to countries around the world through patient advocacy groups, Wenger said, and also in early stages of expanding the work to include other cancer types. It’s gearing up for Lung Cancer Awareness Month in November and is currently planning a new campaign specific to that.

Campaign launch partner AstraZeneca’s goal through the program is to “help people understand biomarker testing and how it can paint the full picture of their cancer diagnosis,” said Arun Krishna, AZ VP and head of the US lung cancer franchise, via email.

Arun Krishna

And working with other drugmakers and advocates just makes sense.

“Partnering with other industry pioneers and groups like LUNGevity is a good example of our collective efforts to empower NSCLC patients to discuss comprehensive biomarker testing with their healthcare team,” he said.

Wenger, who has been working in the lung cancer field for 12 years, pointed to the relatively recent explosion in targeted therapies for lung cancer that makes biomarker testing even more important.

“More lung cancer patients are living their lives on these targeted therapies. It’s a big change,” she said. “We’ve got the scientific advancements, but we want to make sure that they’re getting to the patients. That people can take advantage of the incredible progress and research.”

biomarkers
medical
pharma
healthcare