QuintilesIMS announced that it will lead a collaborative initiative involving founding partners Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Company, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Pfizer, which aims to provide clearer and more proactive insight into how anti-cancer treatments are used in a real-world setting across key European markets.

Currently, there are major information gaps and inconsistencies in knowledge about the real-world use of oncology products across Europe. Additional information about how oncology products are actually used, for which types of patients, with what sequences and combinations of therapies, and in which indications, is particularly important to help improve oncology patient care.

Treatment use information is typically based on historical data, thereby providing a view of the past, not a view of current practice. This new initiative is intended to provide more timely, consistent and comprehensive data resources that could be used to provide further insight for healthcare systems to make better informed decisions on patient care in the future. Importantly, substantial steps have been taken to obtain these insights while respecting individual privacy.

With more than 1.7 million deaths and three million new cases each year, cancer is a leading cause of death and morbidity in Europe, second only to cardiovascular disease1. This new collaboration provides a partnership approach that is critical to address this challenge.