A comprehensive approach to patient care with Nuria Pérez-Cullell

What are the benefits for patients and consumers?

N.P-C. Here at Pierre Fabre, we take a resolutely transversal approach to healthcare. Our complementary activities, covering medical care and dermo-cosmetics, provide us with a comprehensive vision and understanding of the needs of patients and consumers.

To meet those needs, we work to develop effective, safe care solutions. However, our role does not end there, because our ambition is to provide holistic support — covering prevention, treatment, and patient support before and after treatment.

We firmly believe that in order to develop the best solutions for patients, we have to listen to them. For instance, we launched an epidemiological study in dermatology assisted by 13 profes- sors of dermatology and 12 patient associations. That study, called ALL, is being conducted within 20 countries and involves 50,000 people with dermatological disorders. It is structured to enable longitudinal analysis over 5 years (2023-2027). Every year, it provides us with fresh information about patient expectations, the prevalence of skin diseases and their impact on quality of life. In another field of great importance to us, oncology, we joined forces with international patient association, ICAN, to draft the protocol for a phase 1 clinical trial to assess the treatment of a specific type of lung cancer, scheduled to start in 2024.

What were some of the most powerful illustrations of this holistic approach in 2023?

N.P-C. We launched a number of innovative projects that go a long way toward improving healthcare standards. One example is Dermato- Expert, a teledermatology solution for reducing delays in the diagnosis of dermatological disorders. I am also very proud of the community we have helped set up on Facebook concerning prostate disorders. This program has already provided 1,500 patients with peer support in an area that remains taboo.

One of the priorities of the Conquest 2025 plan concerns the medical leadership of Pierre Fabre Laboratories. How do you approach this challenge?   

“Our teams are working to advance medical knowledge for better patient care. This involves generating new data to inform the decisions of healthcare professionals. We are currently conducting 37 real-life studies, which correspond to observational studies, in current practice conditions to better understand patient monitoring in current clinical practice.

Raising awareness of the diseases managed by our treatments is also a priority. The idea is to promote their early detection and diagnosis. Our SAFE study, conducted among 8,000 people in 7 countries, helps us understand behaviors regarding sun protection and improve prevention messages to help people adopt the right habits when exposed to the sun. Specifically, a campaign dedicated to teenagers was designed with the help of young people.

More generally, we collaborate with the entire medical ecosystem to improve the patient care pathway. We thus designed YouDermoscopy, an app that supports the continuing training of dermatologists in the use of the Dermatoscope, which has revolutionized the diagnosis of various skin diseases. With over 40,000 users, YouDermoscopy has become the benchmark in learning this innovative technology.

In the United States, we also developed the Hemangiom’App in 2023 with the help of families with babies suffering from infantile hemangioma, a benign tumor of the blood vessels in the skin of infants. The app was launched in February 2024 and has since supported parents throughout their infant’s care pathway.”