Excellence in Communications via Meetings

Summary of work

The skin condition chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) was, until recently, a mystery to many doctors. Characterised by excruciating, burn-like wheals, swelling and unbearable itching, CSU has no cure. In the worst cases it results in frequent A&E admissions and life-ruining symptoms.

Novartis received an indication for the first ever CSU treatment, Xolair. 90TEN’s brief was to educate the clinical community about Xolair in an environment where physicians and nurses knew very little about the disease. Due to an expedited licence approval there was also an extremely short time frame to deliver any educational activity.

90TEN used a personal approach, creating an emotional connection with healthcare professionals by illustrating the impact to patients and by making the education personal through the use of technology. Six events were organised in just four months and delivered over an intensive three-day period without even breaking into a sweat! Dermatologists said it opened their eyes to the real burden their CSU patients face.

Judges comments

This entry made lovely reading - so patient-focused with a simple, clear structure and well thought through metrics. They managed to make this emotive in an innovative and sexy way – a real achievement for a non-sexy disease area.