Celebrating the continued impact of the patient voice in BMS’ drug development

Earlier this year, Bristol Myers Squibb celebrated the fourth anniversary since the launch of the Patient Expert Engagement Resource (PEER) program.

As a first of its kind collaboration with experts at patient advocacy organizations, PEER systematically and consistently incorporates professional patient perspectives throughout the drug discovery and development process. “One fundamental way we’re making progress toward…clinical and real-world success is by applying a patient-centric lens to every stage of clinical development. We do this through our PEER program by listening to what patients and their communities need and bringing their voices into our development process from the start,” said Anne Kerber, senior vice president, head of development, hematology, oncology and cell therapy, for BMS. 

Since the inception of the PEER program in 2020, BMS has collaborated with over 120 patient advocacy organizations on a range of insight gathering activities with a bold mandate that all Phase 3 clinical trial protocols receive PEER feedback.

And the feedback has made a real difference in our clinical trials.  For example,  recently, the inclusion criteria of a key trial protocol were amended based on the feedback received by Canada-based Save your Skin Foundation, a patient-led not for profit group dedicated to the fight against non-melanoma skin cancers, melanoma, and ocular melanoma. In another example from the UK, feedback from two organizations resulted in changes to informed consent and assent documents for a study in Crohn’s disease. The PEER feedback received not only produced more patient-friendly clinical trial documents, but also satisfied regulatory requirements for inclusion of patient voice set by the UK Health Research Authority. 

“PEER sits at the intersection of cutting-edge science, innovation and the patient perspective,” said Steven Unger, senior director, Patient Experience and PEER Program Lead at BMS. “Our partners at patient advocacy groups not just represent patient communities, but also have sophisticated capabilities, oftentimes conducting critical research and tapping into diverse or underrepresented patient populations. Ensuring they have a seat at the table throughout development benefits and accelerates research, ultimately helping future patients."