It was during an incidental chat in the office when one of my colleagues asked, “so, what is your research curing?” This question has been asked many times of myself and researchers-alike, and it’s not a simple one to answer.

Before joining the Ward6 med writers team, I was a researcher looking at how the immune system responds to viral infections, using a mouse model. I personally was not curing anything, but scientific research is incremental, with each researcher having their own contribution, all with the common goal of expanding our knowledge. It’s like piecing together a giant jigsaw puzzle without knowing the final picture — little by little you see it come together — and so does the potential for changing the future of medicine.

I no longer don a white lab coat every day, and I now find myself at the other end of the spectrum where I see and appreciate the translation of basic science (i.e the discipline, not simple by any means) into the age of personalised, tailored medicine – and what an exciting time it is! But as a scientist, I say let’s not forget those who are paving the way. There are some game-changing technologies appearing in the medical space including DNA-editing (made possible by the technology more commonly referred to as CRISPR), mRNA vaccines (the COVID-19 vaccine being first of its kind) and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy, which as a T cell biologist, I’ve taken quite an interest in.

CAR-T cell therapy is in the headlines with the launch of two new cancer therapies in Australia and multiple treatment centres opening across the country. CAR-T cell therapy utilises T cells, a type of immune cell responsible for hunting down infected or cancerous cells and eliminating them from the body, but often cancer cells find a way to evade detection by these T cells. The amazing thing about CAR-T cell therapy is that the patient’s immune cells are harvested and genetically modified in a lab, making them more targeted to the specific cancer the patient has, and consequently, better able to detect and kill the cancer cells once injected back into the patient.

From the identification of T cells and their ability to kill cancer cells, to where we are today, has taken more than 50 years of research. In 1992, immunologist Michel Sadelain used newly developed genetic engineering tools to insert DNA into T cells to boost their ability to fight cancer cells. One year later, the first-generation CAR-T cell was created by Zelig Eshhar. It took another 5 years for the second-generation of CAR-T cells to be developed and this time they were biologically active and could remain alive in the body. In 2002, we saw the generation of the first CAR-T cell with promising therapeutic potential by a team of scientists at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Institute in New York. In 2003, Dr Sadelain and colleagues published a paper showing CAR-T cells killing leukaemia cells in a mouse model. Fast-forward though years of research and clinical trials to the FDA approval of CAR-T cell therapy for the treatment of relapsed and refectory acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 2017, with the TGA following suit in 2018.

Imagine the number of scientists, hours in the lab, failed experiments and the years spent on clinical trials it has taken to see the translation of basic science into personalised medicine. As I sit here now, on the other side to where I started as a scientist, seeing these therapies implemented and the impact on patients’ lives — this is a shout-out to scientists in the lab this weekend.

Ward6 recently teamed-up with Audika to create a campaign of positive change and motivate over 60s to start being hearing healthy.  

It tapped into a real truth of people with hearing loss always saying pardon, sorry, huh or what when they can’t hear the conversation. 

With hearing loss affecting one in two Australians over 60, and linked to other health issues like dementia, it’s time we recognised hearing health as a vital part of our overall health.

The campaign is running across radio, TV, digital, social and retail in Australia and NZ.

Yesterday Ward6 and Novartis picked up two trophies at the 16th annual PRIME Awards. On the day that recognises excellence in the Australian healthcare communications industry, the awards for ‘Creativity in Communication – HCP’ and ‘Marketing Innovation’ went to agency and client.

Ward6 Group CEO, Stuart Black, said, “For us, this year’s PRIME award wins are all about collaboration. A successful launch takes a huge amount of preparation and if you are not working tightly as a team, month after month, you do the product and your company a disservice. We consider ourselves very fortunate to be working with an inspiring group of clients from one of the world’s great pharmaceutical companies and we’re incredibly proud to share these wins with them.”

To all our clients, we say a massive thank you for choosing to partner with us.

Lockdown for fertility company Genea meant losing connection with GPs. Practices understandably stopped accepting medical sales reps. It was up to Ward6 and The Misfits to find another way of making baby talk.

Read how in the full B&T article here

Last night Ward6 picked up two trophies and one highly commended at the PRIME Awards, holding onto its title as the most awarded agency in PRIME’s fifteen year history.

On the evening that recognises excellence in the Australian healthcare communications industry, awards for Launch of the Year (Biktarvy) and Marketing Campaign of the Year (Biktarvy) went to the agency, and their client Gilead.

For their work on the Neulasta brand with client Amgen, Ward6 received a Highly Commended acknowledgment for Marketing Campaign of the Year, and was shortlisted as a finalist in the Creativity in Communication category.

Ward6 was shortlisted again in the Creativity in Communication category for its work with client Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Ward6 and its client, Amgen, have been shortlisted in two different categories, Health and Wellbeing and Small Budget.

Introduced by the New York American Marketing Association in 1968, the Effie^® Awards have since become recognised by advertisers and agencies as the pre-eminent award in the advertising industry. Held in 51 countries around the world, the Effie Awards honour the most significant achievement in advertising and marketing communications: effectiveness.

The Effie winners will be announced at a presentation in Sydney on Thursday 5 September.

Following agency tradition, Ward6 away day headed to a wine region for some well deserved therapy. The beautiful Mornington Peninsula was our playground for two days.

Click here to watch

Our CEO Stuart Black adds a personal note to how the health agency space has undergone significant transformation and why there has never been a better time to be doing what we do. Have a read of the full B&T story here.

Ward6 was awarded finalist for Best New Product Launch at last night’s PRIME Awards, which recognises excellence in the Australian healthcare communications industry.

The agency was given the monumental task to develop a global launch campaign for Cochlear that could work across five regions around the world. The result was “Hear Your Way” - a strategic and global creative platform. The campaign highlighted the customisation capabilities of Nucleus 7 made available by the first ever Made for iPhone cochlear implantable hearing device.

“Hear Your Way” has proven to be Cochlear’s most successful product launch in the company’s 37-year history. It was launched at Apple’s flagship store in San Francisco, generating nearly 645 million media impressions.

If you’d like to hear more contact us

During the ABC’s Gruen, now in its ninth season, Ward6 were asked on ‘The Pitch’ how to convince Australian men to go to the doctors. This was the agency’s second appearance on the show that ‘unpicks the dark arts of advertising, branding and spin’ and we’re thrilled to have a second trophy to place in the award cabinet!

Click here to see the video