Nearly 200 medical communications and pharma industry professionals worldwide tuned in yesterday to hear Oxford PharmaGenesis deliver a webinar on publication and communication of Real World Evidence (RWE). Commercial Director Richard White and Account Director Tim Koder presented the webinar as part the International Society of Medical Publications Professionals (ISMPP) online educational series, ISMPP University (ISMPP U).
“The material was explained in 
a comprehensive yet understandable way, and I really enjoyed the presentation!” – Brian Scheckner, ISMPP U Committee Chair
Richard and Tim explored common concerns on the robustness and rigour of RWE studies, and discussed how publications managers and medical writers can address them. The discussion included RWE reporting guidelines, journal and congress targeting, and internal publications policies.
Live interactive 
audience polls in the webinar yielded some striking results. More than 80% of respondents expressed a positive attitude towards RWE, yet only 7% said their organization (medical communications agency or pharma company) had a clear policy on publication of RWE studies. Of the remainder, 8% said that their organization had a policy that was unclear, while 53% said that there was no policy at all and 32% did not know whether there was a policy or not.
“Oxford PharmaGenesis has supported our clients in communicating observational study data since the company was founded in 1998 – long before the term ‘Real World Evidence’ even existed,” said Richard. “Our heritage therefore gives us a wealth of experience to help our clients meet the increasing need for effective communication of RWE, to support the licensing, reimbursement and utilization of their products.”
“I am delighted that Oxford PharmaGenesis is supporting our clients on some genuinely innovative RWE programmes, and it’s great to have the opportunity to share some of our experience with our peers in the industry,” said Tim. “The results of our snap polls show that there is tremendous interest in communicating RWE data, but also a clear need for guidance on how best to do it.”
Richard and Tim are grateful to the ISMPP U Organizing Committee for their invitation to deliver the webinar, and to Jennifer Caifullo, Lisa Klos and Donna Simcoe at ISMPP for their excellent management of the logistics and facilitation of the event.
