Gathering Structured Patient Insight to Drive the PRO Strategy in COPD: Patient-Centric Drug Development from Theory to Practice.

We illustrate our experience of gathering patient insights on the most patient-relevant symptoms in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) via a structured and systematic approach towards 'patient-centric' drug development, leveraging recent advances in digital technologies using online platforms. The four-step approach comprised the following: literature search, social media listening (SML) study, online bulletin board (OBB) exercise, and design of an online patient preference study (PPS). The initial online studies (SML and OBB) revealed that, besides dyspnoea and exacerbations, patients perceive cough and mucus production as equally important aspects of disease management for COPD.

Impact of cough and mucus on COPD patients: primary insights from an exploratory study with an Online Patient Community.

Qualitative research provides real-life information on patients' condition and facilitates informed design of future clinical studies. We used Online Communities as a qualitative research tool to evaluate the effect of cough and mucus on COPD patients. Two 2-week Online Communities were run in parallel in the UK and in the USA, including COPD patients with persistent cough and excessive mucus.