What Does a True Partnership Mean?

For some people a partnership could mean a successful, harmonious relationship between two individuals, working with a team professionally, or it could even mean two separate organisations from different sectors or industries collaboratively working together.

For me, partnerships are all about the coming together of ideas, finding solutions and exchanging perspectives to get the best from, and out of each other - all whilst moving towards the same goal.

Take the M.A.C AIDS mission for example, and how one lipstick has changed the lives of 19 million people living with HIV and AIDS. Most people will know M.A.C Cosmetics as a beauty brand, but they’ve helped make incredible advancements in the HIV and AIDS patient community in the UK and globally. In the mid-nineties they released their VIVA GLAM lipstick, in an effort to combat the stigma and misinformation surrounding HIV and AIDS. 100% of every VIVA GLAM sale goes to people affected by HIV and AIDS - each lipstick buys 254 condoms, tests 14 pregnant mothers for HIV, and feeds two homeless LGBTGQ+ youths for a full day. [i]

This embodies a true partnership and everything I feel a relationship between two entities should be. Innovative, life-changing, and ultimately working together for the greater good. ?

Galapagos: Pioneering For Patients

As part of our commitment to inflammation at Galapagos, we see the true value and importance of partnerships. From actively engaging with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to develop first-in-class medicines and expanding our R&D pipeline, to establishing and enhancing relationships with patient advocacy groups and charities, to listen and learn from patient communities and support patients holistically. ?

Our Quest to Build Unstoppable Partnerships

One in 50 people in the UK are living with a chronic inflammatory disease, including Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) or Ulcerative Colitis.[ii],[iii],[iv] ?At Galapagos, our goal is to tackle inflammation and support these people. Back in 2020, we discovered that RA was amongst the least well understood conditions in the UK and too often is seen as a low priority - for policy makers, health services, close friends, and family, even patients themselves. This needed to change, so we endeavored on a partnership with the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) to address this, to give a voice to those with RA, who were silenced and marginalised by the rest of society. The message from the RA community was clear: We R.A. Priority.

Partnering to Make Those Living with RA a Priority

We set out with a mission: to make people living with RA a priority in the UK.

Over the years, NRAS and Galapagos have collaborated countless times to share inspirational stories from real people, of different backgrounds, living with RA, in the hope that others can find something they relate to, so they don’t feel they have to face the very real and isolating challenges of living with a chronic condition alone. Covering a wide variety of important topics that might not usually be instantly associated with managing a chronic inflammation condition, we have created change in the lives of those affected by the everyday reality of RA, by providing expert advice on how to live while tackling the worlds of fashion, technology and sex. Impressively, the campaign has reached 10 million people and an estimated 50% of the RA patient community in the UK.

This RA Awareness Week, we are celebrating the launch of the People’s Priorities magazine, a resource dedicated to sharing the real-life experiences and advice for the RA community, a one-stop-shop for the We R.A. Priority campaign.

An integral part of the campaign is engaging with influential figures from within and outside the RA community, for them to either share their personal story or offer expert advice, to uplift and empower people living with RA. ?

To name a few, we have collaborated with actress Claire King, who lives with RA herself, Channel 5’s ‘Gadget Show’ star Georgie Barret, who shared her technology top tips for people living with RA and BBC’s ‘Sex on the Couch’ Sex and Relationship therapist Lohani Noor, who shared their expertise on how to navigate relationships whilst living with a chronic condition.

We also partnered with TikTok sensation Dr Karan Raj, who developed and shared content to raise awareness and dispel common RA myths to his 4.9 million followers. Additionally, campaign contributor, Sukhjeen has been nominated by the British Diversity Awards for campaigner of the year for raising the issue of RA stigma in the Asian community. From a medical perspective, we’ve actively engaged with leading UK rheumatology healthcare professionals, like nurse Alison Kent, to provide advice on how to get the most of your rheumatology consultation and sleep expert Dr Neil Stanley who shared his tips on how to sleep well with RA. ?

Working with NRAS laid the foundations for all these individual partnerships to blossom. I’m sure you’ll agree, for real change to happen on the ground, you need multiple people working together, and that’s exactly what we’ve created with this campaign.

A Multi-Award-Winning Partnership

Along the way, We R.A. Priority has become a multi-award-winning campaign, awarded a Communique Award for Excellence in Multi-Channel communications and GOLD in the Patient Partnership Index Award, recognised for its empowering patient stories, expert led lifestyle and wellbeing advice and overall holistic approach to patient support and disease awareness, a true testimonial of fantastic partnership between Galapagos and NRAS. It just goes to show what can be achieved by collaborating to pioneer for patients.

I’m immensely proud to be part of the Galapagos UK team, working harmoniously in partnership with NRAS to deliver this campaign paving the way, breaking boundaries, and providing invaluable support to the RA community in the UK. Although we can’t change life with a lipstick, we can help support and offer expert wellbeing and lifestyle advice to the inflammatory patient community and make those living with RA a priority.

To download the People’s Priorities magazine, click here https://www.werapriority.co.uk/

[i] Mac Cosmetics. Meet the Lipstick That’s Changing Lives. ?Available at: https://www.maccosmetics.co.uk/culture-viva-glam-25years. Last Accessed: September 2022.

[ii] Office for National Statistics. Population estimates. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/timeseries/ukpop/pop. Last Accessed: September 2022.

[iii] University of Nottingham, Crohn’s & Colitis and Coeliac UK. Rates of Crohn’s and Colitis have been vastly underestimated says new study. Available at: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/rates-of-crohns-and-colitis-have-been-vastly-underestimated-for-decades-says-new-study. Last Accessed: September 2022.

[iv] NICE. Rheumatoid arthritis. Available at: https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/rheumatoid-arthritis/. Last Accessed: September 2022.

GB-RA-NA-202209-00002 | September 2022?