MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE BREAST CANCER COMMUNITY

ISSUE:
Medco Health Solutions, Inc., the nation’s leading pharmacy benefit manager, was looking to strengthen its corporate image by emphasizing its clinical research in improving medication utilization and medication safety. As part of an ongoing campaign, Coyne PR was charged with raising the company’s profile around a study on the breast cancer drug tamoxifen.

IDEA:
Women are prescribed tamoxifen to prevent the recurrence of breast cancer. Along with that drug, women are often prescribed antidepressants known as SSRIs not only for symptoms of depression, but also to treat hot flashes that are a side effect of tamoxifen. Medco’s researchers discovered that women taking both drugs together were at more than double the risk of recurrent breast cancer than those taking only tamoxifen. The research was presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), a highly visible platform that Coyne PR leveraged as the launch point for the communications program. The team strategically indentified key influencers within the media and advocacy arena, providing advanced copies of the research to influential patient advocacy organizations, select key media influencers and influential blogs. Once the embargo lifted, a national media blitz ensued, coupled with a social media strategy to drive significant buzz in physician and breast cancer patient online communities.

IMPACT:
The PR effort around the study was a huge success and contributed significantly to Medco’s 2009 PR results – which generated more than 2 billion media impressions. News about the study broke with multiple key media outlets including the Associated Press, Bloomberg, Dow Jones and Wall Street Journal, followed by a groundswell of mainstream media attention in outlets including “Good Morning America,” “The Early Show,” “FOX & Friends” and MSNBC. The social media strategy generated major buzz online, with more than 560 tweets on Twitter and more than 115 blogs covering the study, including US News & World Report’s On Women, Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog and About.com’s Breast Cancer Blog, as well as numerous other patient and physician-specific blogs.

Breastcancer.org, the most widely visited online breast cancer site, issued its own media advisory on the importance of the Medco study and revised online content to address the issue. Not only did the study make tremendous news, but the Food and Drug Administration also followed shortly with plans to release an official warning to doctors about prescribing antidepressants with tamoxifen, a step that could literally help save women’s lives.