The Situation

Close to 9,000 Filipinos die from lung cancer each year. The five-year survival rate sits at 15.7 percent overall and 3.7 percent for late-stage patients. The standard treatment, chemotherapy, kills cancer cells but destroys healthy cells alongside them. Immunotherapy, a new approach that had already saved lives in other countries, was finally arriving in the Philippines through MSD‘s Keytruda (Pembrolizumab). But no one in the local market knew what it was.

The challenge went beyond awareness. MSD needed to educate four distinct audiences simultaneously: oncologists who would prescribe the treatment, cancer patients and their families who would demand it, government health officials who would approve access, and media who would carry the story. The campaign had to move the market from zero knowledge to active adoption in six months.

The Approach

Phase 1: Oncologist Thought Leader Recruitment

Reached out to the Philippine oncological community to identify thought leaders who could introduce immunotherapy to local discussion. These physicians became the credible voices of the campaign, lending clinical authority that a pharmaceutical company’s own messaging could not replicate.

Phase 2: Expert Panel Assembly & Roundtable Discussions

Organized two roundtable discussions to build media familiarity with immunotherapy before the main launch. The first, Usapang Kanser Lung, marked lung cancer awareness month with coverage of diagnosis, symptoms, and emerging treatments. The second, a pre-launch discussion with select blogs and broadsheets, covered lung cancer, melanoma, and new treatment options including immunotherapy.

Phase 3: Media Symposium & Drug Launch

Produced “The Future of Cancer Treatment: Harnessing Hope from Within,” a media symposium that officially launched Pembrolizumab in the Philippines following its FDA approval as second-line treatment for unresectable or metastatic melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer. The symposium brought together the expert panel, survivor stories, and the medical community for a single launch moment.

Phase 4: Survivor Story Amplification

Featured cancer patients who had begun immunotherapy treatment alongside their doctors, sharing personal victories in the fight against cancer. The survivor stories gave the campaign an emotional dimension that clinical data alone couldn’t provide, sustaining coverage and oncologist referrals beyond the launch event.

The Results

• 3 events Two roundtables and one media symposium built to the official drug launch
• Top-tier coverage Stories in Inquirer, PhilStar, Business Mirror, plus radio and television
• Growing referrals Oncologists increasingly referring patients for immunotherapy evaluation post-campaign

Campaign Highlights:

• Nationwide and regional coverage sustained across the six-month campaign
• Usapang Kanser Lung roundtable timed to lung cancer awareness month for editorial relevance

• Pembrolizumab officially launched at the media symposium with FDA approval for melanoma and NSCLC

• Survivor stories gave the campaign emotional credibility beyond clinical data

• Campaign moved the Philippine market from zero immunotherapy awareness to active oncologist adoption

• Coverage ongoing beyond the initial six-month campaign period

The Takeaway

When you’re introducing a treatment category that doesn’t exist in the market yet, you’re not running a PR campaign. You’re running an education program. MSD‘s Keytruda launch worked because it treated media as the first audience to convince, giving them three events and six months of expert access before asking them to explain immunotherapy to the Filipino public.

• Industry: Healthcare
• Service: PR & Digital Campaigns
• Solution: For International Brands Entering PH

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you launch a new cancer treatment category in a market with zero awareness?

In phases. The first event introduces the concept to media through expert voices. The second deepens understanding through focused discussion. The third launches the drug with the full weight of survivor stories, clinical evidence, and oncologist endorsement. By the time the symposium happens, the media already knows what immunotherapy is and why it matters.

Why use roundtable discussions instead of press conferences for a pharmaceutical launch?

Roundtables create a conversation format where journalists ask questions and hear directly from oncologists. For a complex topic like immunotherapy, the interactive format builds journalist understanding faster than a one-way presentation. Better understanding produces better, more accurate coverage.

What role do survivor stories play in a cancer treatment awareness campaign?

They make the clinical data personal. A five-year survival rate is a statistic. A patient who started immunotherapy and is responding to treatment is a story that journalists want to tell and readers want to share. Survivor stories sustain coverage long after the launch event ends.

How do you measure success for a campaign where the outcome is patient referrals?

By tracking whether oncologists are referring patients for immunotherapy evaluation. Referrals grew with each passing month after the campaign launched. In pharmaceutical PR, the real metric is whether the medical community is acting on the information, not just reading about it.