Situation
A US biotechnology company that develops orphan medicinal products for the treatment of cancer and other severe, immune, inflammatory conditions was interested in setting up a multi-stakeholder Think Tank in Switzerland. The client asked SFL to initiate such a new forum that brings together stakeholders involved in the management of rare diseases in Switzerland and facilitate discussions how to improve access to innovative therapies for patients.
Solution
For this innovative project, exploring new ways of partnerships, SFL advised to start with a pilot phase. Accordingly, SFL organized in close contact with the client a series of preparatory meetings, where public affairs specialists and rare diseases experts from SFL explored the interest of other stakeholders in the proposed Think Tank format.
After a successful preparatory and pilot phase, SFL defined the mission, the goals and the organizational set up of the think tank that corresponded to both the clients and the potential participants needs. Furthermore, SFL was given the mandate to set up and run the forum’s secretariat, including the organization of quarterly meetings with industry experts, high level guest speakers and representatives of other stakeholders such as payors, patients and physicians. In this context, SFL is responsible for agenda development, participant management, speaker selection, meeting moderation, preparation of minutes and communication of activities.