Hanover Communications

Femtech is potentially the most important development in health care right now. Women's health has been under-researched and overlooked for successive generations - it's time that government and industry get ready to deliver.

Prioritising the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) should be at the heart of plans to safeguard the long-term sustainability of the NHS. Unfortunately, action in this area has to date not matched ambition, putting thousands of patients’ lives – and the future of the health system – at risk.

Timely and effective antimicrobials are the cornerstone of our healthcare systems, providing life-saving treatment and supporting vital services like routine operations, transplants and cancer treatment. We are three years into the UK Government’s 20-Year Vision for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), and the Department of Health and Social Care recently launched a consultation for the next iteration of the AMR National Action Plan (2024-2029). However, latest figures show that AMR is still on the rise. Is UK policy ambitious enough to drive innovation in AMR, and is the Government on track to contain, control and mitigate AMR by 2040?

For the third time this year, the NHS and social care has a new Secretary of State. The appointment must now signal stability following a period of political turbulence, as we head into what health leaders are describing as the toughest winter to date. Backlogs, delayed discharges, ambulance and A&E pressures, and crumbling NHS estates will remain top of Steve Barclay’s priority list in the coming weeks and months ahead. However, he will also need to address the longstanding workforce issues that hold back both the NHS and social care sector. Only dealing with these structural challenges will ensure the health and care system is operationally fit for winters to come.

The Truss Government has committ­ed to developing a new 10-year cancer plan. But set against the backdrop of the Secretary of States priorities, what real value can the sector expect a new cancer plan to deliver? What questions need addressing to drive impactful change for patients? Will there be funding available to support the transformation?  We will explore the state of play of cancer care in England and assess the main priorities, including how they align with wider NHS challenges. We will set out the difficult choices that a new plan must confront to enable prioritisation of this complex disease area and consider the balance between taking action to impact patients now versus initiatives to benefit patients of the future.

As expected, Liz Truss has been anointed as the new Prime Minister. One of her major challenges is the NHS and, with only two years to another general election, she does not have much time to restore falling public confidence in the service.

Last month the U.S. Government passed the Inflation Reduction Act, paving the way for unprecedented drug pricing reforms across the country. In a market with spiralling healthcare costs, and increasing stories of patients missing out, or rationing treatment, the Act is welcomed by many. But it’s also severely criticised by others, including representatives from the pharmaceutical industry who say it jeopardises future innovation and drug discovery. As the largest pharmaceuticals market, the impact of the legislation will be felt outside of the U.S., but what does this look like, in the short and long-term? Is it a proverbial drop in the ocean, or is a storm brewing?

Women’s health has once again been thrust to the fore, with almost daily stories on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) supply shortages in the UK providing us with a stark reminder of the challenges women are facing in this country every day. The good news is, the UK Government is making a genuine and concerted effort to tackle women’s health issues, having set out its Vision for women’s health in December, and a full Strategy due to be published imminently. We have a real opportunity to change women’s experience of healthcare for the better, but we cannot afford to get this wrong. In her latest blog, Hanover’s Georgia Hunt explores how the upcoming Women’s Health Strategy should address the concerns of women today and improve the lives of the women of tomorrow.

Value-based contracting (VBC) is firmly on the market access agenda across Europe and there are converging views on what is needed in this space.  Pharma and biotech, patients, payers, regulators and HTA agencies gathered at the World Evidence, Pricing and Access Congress in March to discuss challenges and potential solutions. Hanover hosted a discussion about experiences of VBC and where changes are needed. We explored whether a global archetype approach could support in-country negotiating agreements.   In their latest blog, Hanover Health’s Emma Eatwell and Josie Godfrey explore what the future for VBC might look like.

With the EU’s upcoming revision of the general pharmaceutical legislation, the bloc has the chance to provide long-awaited clarity around the future of nanomedicine. And just as important, it will give the EU a chance to lead on a conversation around the needed regulatory framework for nanomedicines as other countries -including the US- currently struggle with this. In their latest blog, Hanover Brussels Alicia Rojo Santos and Pilar Serrano explores why the sector expecting to set off following the success of the Pfizer and Moderna SARS-CoV-2 vaccines is more important than ever.

In their latest blog, Hanover Brussels Emma Eatwell and Josie Godfrey will explore how companies can efficiently and effectively increase the chances of securing value-based contracts that work for all.

As health systems emerge from the pandemic, and attention turns to the backlog of patients waiting for treatment, how can the pharmaceutical industry position itself as part of the solution? In his latest blog, Hanover Health’s Alexander Davies looks to answer the following questions – big pharma was there for the world when it needed vaccines in record-breaking time, can it find the innovations that we need now to clear through the queue of people waiting for treatment? Can it partner with health systems to speed up access, improve patient outcomes and reduce the burden on healthcare professionals? And, if it did so, what are the opportunities for its reputation?

Many years in the making, the first CVDPREVENT audit report, published recently, gives a detailed snapshot of how those with cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are identified, diagnosed, and managed across England. In his latest blog, Hanover Health’s Mark MacDonald asks – what does this data tell us about the impact CVD is having on our collective health, how much are health inequalities a factor, and where are the opportunities for the system to collectively do better to prevent disease, disability, and death?

With the recent performance of Cancer Waiting Times the worst on record, and predictions of thousands of ‘missing’ cancer patients that have yet to enter the system, Hanover’s Health’s Emma Greenwood asks – how do we get back to that transformation agenda and move beyond the backlog?

After the inevitable push into the virtual world amplified by COVID-19 and robust efforts in the name of digital transformation across the healthcare sector, 2022 is set to be the year of digital integration. We’re past tactical plans disguised as strategies and merely replicating content across channels. A new approach by the pharmaceutical industry is required to respond to the new digital world. Hanover’s Health’s Solveig Veerkamp explains how a truly hybrid, holistic approach is essential to respond to the most important health challenges to come.

It won’t have escaped your attention that the debris from the PM’s recent reshuffle has left industry and policy makers with more questions than it has answers. This comes at a critical time for the healthcare system, particularly ahead of the winter period. ‘Levelling Up’ is the agenda. Covid has highlighted the extent of health inequalities across the UK. In her latest blog, Ursula Ritz considers the implications of the change of senior leadership at DHSC and NHSE for existing priorities, including for those of us committed to ensuring the best and innovative drugs make it to patients.

In her latest blog, Hanover Brussels Aleksandra Lugovic explores concerns over the rising coexistence of health apps and electronic goods that may become medical devices according to the EU Regulation.

With the publication of the new Life Sciences Vision, a new NHS Bill, and new Health Secretary and NHS England Chief Executive, there are many fresh additions to add to the blur of change in the NHS. But what do they mean for medicines? In his latest blog, Hanover Health’s Andrew Harrison argues that there is a need for a renewed value story for medicines in the NHS, one which articulates their contribution to the prevention agenda and how they can relieve the burden of care on the health system.

At six months out from the COP26 UN climate summit in November, political leaders are focusing on industry to help cut emissions. In 2019 the NHS equated to ~5% of total UK carbon footprint, and it is now targeting 2045 net zero for itself and its wider footprint. The search for healthcare suppliers that meet these commitments by the end of the decade is on, and the time to act is now. In the pharmaceutical sector manufacturing sustainable plastic, hydrogen power, or green steel are all being debated – and healthcare companies will need cross-sector support in finding futureproofed solutions. In her latest blog, Hanover Health’s Alison Woodhouse considers the steps and collaboration that will be required in order for the NHS, and UK government, to meet their ambitious net zero targets.

Timed to coincide with International Women’s Day, the Government’s Women’s Health Strategy for England landed at a moment of national contemplation about women’s place in society more generally, following the murder of Sarah Everard. In her latest blog, Hanover Health’s Jennifer Blainey breaks down the strategy and considers what needs to happen for it to succeed.

The turbulence of the last year has brought into sharp focus the difficult choices to be made when it comes to healthcare prioritisation. There is now more of a reluctant acceptance that there will always be someone or something that will miss out so the ‘unjust’ emotional argument won’t resonate in the same way anymore. In her latest blog, Hanover Health’s Emma Gorton considers why in the wake of Covid-19, communicators must change their narrative around the treatment of rare diseases.

At the beginning of November, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their vaccine candidate was more than 90% effective at preventing COVID-19 infection. Since then, other good news has followed, with collaborations, including Moderna and AstraZeneca, publishing similarly positive results. This is a phenomenal feat that would have been unimaginable just one year ago. But a vaccine is only as effective as its deployment and uptake. There should be no doubt that as soon as the first COVID-19 vaccine was approved, a very difficult logistics game ensued. The reality is that a COVID-19 vaccine will present a whole new unfamiliar set of operational challenges. There are currently more than 170 candidate vaccines in development, each with its own benefits and each with its own challenges. Here, we explore some of those challenges and reflect on what must be considered by health systems and governments to set us on track towards pandemic recovery.

“Take up of new medicines in the UK continues to be slow by international standards”. Since this Pharmaceutical Industry Competitiveness Task Force report in 2005, there have been at least five UK life science strategies plus three PPRS or VPAS deals. All have promised to accelerate access of new medicines to patients. Sadly, 12 years on, the 2017 Life Sciences Industrial Strategy could only restate the challenge: “Evidence demonstrates that access to and diffusion of products in the NHS is often slower than in some comparable countries”. Can we ever break this cycle? By Andrew Harrison, Group Managing Director of Hanover Health.

On Wednesday 16th September, Ursula Von Der Leyen, President of the European Union, announced in her State of Union address that they plan to develop BARDA, a Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency. This follows on from the Conservative Government pledging in their manifesto in late 2019 to develop ARPA, the Advanced Research Projects Agency. Both of these agencies are direct descendants of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency founded in the USA in 1958 to create “Nation technology-based options for preventing – and creating - technological surprise.” Technological surprise is a wonderfully euphemistic phrase which refers to military “surprise” in the context of the Cold War. However, in the context of a global pandemic and the politicisation of the race to find a vaccine many are now drawing Cold War comparisons. But can DARPA, ARPA or BARDA actually deliver technological surprise? Jennifer Blainey, Director, Hanover Health explores.

In our new article, Lloyd Tingley explores the wider societal and behavioural factors that will impact the success of green prescribing and the obesity strategy, and the role companies will play in driving a society wide approach that impacts infrastructure, adherence, health inequalities, and more.

As discussed in a recent article, the next few years will define the future of life sciences and especially the regulation of breakthrough advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) and orphan medicinal products (OMPs) in the EU. Here Senior Healthcare Director Emma Eatwell examines the impact of the recently-published European Commission Roadmap to develop an EU Pharmaceutical Strategy and considers what the the future looks like for ATMPs and OMPs.

COVID-19 has understandably dominated the news agenda like no other story in a generation. But what about other disease areas that are both important and deserve public attention? How do we break through this wall, particularly as coronavirus looks set to govern the news agenda for the next few months at least, if not longer?

Infamously coined America’s ‘public enemy number one’ by President Nixon, are controlled substances a fundamental missing part of modern medicine? By Emma Gorton, Senior Director at Hanover Communications

Alex Davies, Director at Hanover Health, considers the art of corporate storytelling and how we must challenge our clients to achieve a powerful narrative.

For the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry, the impact of climate change is twofold – responding to the increased risk of certain diseases and conditions and decarbonising their own processes and products to prevent worsening impact.

New programme for communicators looking to breakthrough in their careers.