Developing IQVIA’s positions on key trends in the pharma and life sciences industries, with a focus on EMEA.
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Developing IQVIA’s positions on key trends in the pharma and life sciences industries, with a focus on EMEA.
Learn more
Developing IQVIA’s positions on key trends in the pharma and life sciences industries, with a focus on EMEA.
Learn more
Developing IQVIA’s positions on key trends in the pharma and life sciences industries, with a focus on EMEA.
Learn more
Utilising the extensive range of data assets exclusively available to IQVIA, combined with our market leading expertise, we are able to support the NHS meet the challenge of delivering high quality, efficient and cost effective healthcare by identifying actionable insight and realising the value in data.
Learn MoreWe believe in the UK’s potential to become a global leader in the life sciences sector, and our investments announced in the 2018 Second Life Sciences Sector Deal further support the UK Government and the industry’s aim to make that potential a reality.
Learn MoreWe are committed to providing solutions that inform and enable all stakeholders across UK healthcare, to innovate with confidence, maximise opportunities, and, ultimately, drive human health outcomes forward.
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IQVIA’s Pharmacy Communications offers pharma companies a simple and cost-effective channel to communicate product changes, updates and patient advice directly to patients via pharmacists.
Learn MoreExplore our library of resources spanning the healthcare & life science ecosystem on the latest topics, trends, and market developments that matter to you.
Learn MoreBreast cancer affects millions of people worldwide. In 2020, 2.3 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer globally (1). In the UK, it is the most common cancer among women, with over 55,000 new cases diagnosed each year (2). Around 0.5-1% of breast cancers occur in men (1). In the UK, survival rates for breast cancer are lower for Black and Asian women compared to white women. Black patients are more likely to be diagnosed with more severe forms of breast cancer than other ethnic groups (3). Common treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, and targeted therapies. Surgery often involves breast-conserving procedures or mastectomy, depending on the tumour’s size and characteristics.
Precision medicine in the oncology space has ushered in a new era of progress in the treatment of breast cancer. Through advances in genomics and molecular profiling, oncologists can now tailor therapies with unprecedented accuracy, maximising their effectiveness while reducing unnecessary side effects. Liquid biopsy testing, which uses circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) in the blood is another major advance that enables oncologists to adapt treatment plans promptly, optimising their effectiveness.
One of the ground-breaking developments was the identification of specific genetic mutations that drive breast cancer progression and predictive biomarkers, which can be used for targeted therapy. For example, the presence of Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) mutations led to advancements in targeted therapies such as Herceptin, significantly improving outcomes for HER2-positive breast cancer patients. More recently, HER2 status has been further characterised by the identification of HER2-Low subsets, accounting for around 50%-60% of all breast cancers. Furthermore, the discovery of BRCA gene mutations has paved the way for therapies like PARP inhibitors, offering new options for individuals with hereditary breast cancer.
Immunotherapies have also emerged as a promising treatment option. A class of drugs known as immune checkpoint inhibitors are showing potential in treating triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), a particularly aggressive subtype, characterised by the absence of three specific receptors that are commonly found in other types of breast cancer: estrogen receptors (ER), progesterone receptors (PR), and HER2.
In honour of Breast Cancer awareness month, we are highlighting the role of real-world data (RWD) in harnessing the power of precision oncology in the understanding and treatment of breast cancer.
RWD refers to data concerning the health of patients and the provision of healthcare, typically gathered from various sources including electronic health records, medical insurance claims, information obtained from product or disease databases, and data collected from other sources like digital health technologies. RWD can be used to generate robust Real-world Evidence (RWE) which can play a crucial role complementing traditional Randomised Control Trials (RCTs) in informing breast cancer treatment. Examples of how RWE can be leveraged include:
The UK is well placed to support RWE studies in precision medicine in oncology with a number of rich data sources including NHS England’s Cancer Analysis System (CAS), Genomics England (GEL) and the UK BioBank. These sources include genomics and biomarker data, linked to extensive longitudinal clinical information.
The multiple possibilities of RWE to accelerate the potential of precision medicine are as exciting as they are complex. Here at IQVIA, our team of RWE experts can provide end to end support from the development of bespoke study designs and treatment algorithms to appropriate data access and analysis that ensures that ethical and patient privacy considerations are fully addressed. Many of our clients are already leveraging the power of RWE to inform innovations in breast cancer and other forms of cancer to realise the full potential of precision medicine.
To understand how IQVIA’s team of experts can help you to leverage RWD and Precision Oncology, contact us here: ASKIQVIA@iqvia.com
1: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/breast-cancer
2: Breast cancer | Types of cancer | World Cancer Research Fund UK (wcrf-uk.org)
3: https://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/breast-cancer-black-women
IQVIA Real World Solutions is the proven partner life science companies trust to take on their complex evidence challenges. We enable our customers to generate and disseminate real world evidence to answer crucial questions and meet the needs of their stakeholders.
