Patient Advocacy

Patient advocacy groups represent and support patients and their families/care partners by providing:

  • Patient education and support
  • Legislative and regulatory advocacy
  • Clinical and translational research
  • Disease awareness and fundraising

Patient education and support resources offered by patient advocacy groups often include resources to help patients and caregivers learn more about living with a disease, scientific advancements, policy updates and how to afford medical treatment.

Need help finding a patient advocacy group?

Call the Genentech Patient Resource Center at (877) GENENTECH or (877) 436-3683.

Learn more about Genentech’s efforts to partner with national and local patient advocacy groups across the healthcare landscape to identify, gain consensus and drive action on critical patient needs.

The Patient Advocacy Relations team advocates for equitable health outcomes through the power of patient-focused partnerships.

Sonali Chopra, Head of Patient Advocacy, Genentech, A Member of the Roche Group

Engagement with Patient Advocates

At Genentech, we pride ourselves on great science, but science only works for patients if it reaches patients.

We value the patient perspective and believe the patient voice must be heard – and integrated – into every aspect of Genentech’s work.

Advocates have been critical to shaping our commitment to patients from the beginning.

  • Genentech’s first step into the patient advocacy space was in 1994 when patient advocates’ engagement and expertise played a pivotal role in helping us get women with breast cancer the treatment they needed.
  • More than 25 years later, Genentech continues to lead the industry in engaging with patient communities to better serve our patients and help improve patient outcomes.

Patient Advocacy Relations

Patient Advocacy Relations advocates for equitable health outcomes through the power of patient-focused partnerships.

Genentech has long-term relationships with more than 500 patient advocacy organizations across 50 disease areas; these groups include national, regional and locally focused organizations and those outside of traditional networks.

In 2022, PatientView ranked Roche and Genentech #1 among the top 15 "big-pharma" companies in overall corporate reputation in the United States. Rankings are based on opinions from more than 2,200 patient groups worldwide.

Together, Genentech and patient advocates work to:

  • Catalyze systemic change
  • Drive better patient outcomes
  • And champion health equity by competing on behalf of marginalized and underserved patients every day.

Genentech’s Patient Advocacy Relations team brings a wide diversity of backgrounds and perspectives to this work. The team includes survivors, caregivers, and those with past experience as leaders in patient advocacy and equity initiatives, healthcare professionals, lawyers, and legislative and policy experts.

Our Commitment

Driving change to improve patient outcomes and experiences.

We collaborate with patients, thought leaders, advocacy organizations and other experts early and often throughout the life-cycle of our medicines, from early development onward. These engagements enable us to make patient-centered impacts, including clinical trial design and recruitment, access to our medicines, and improving our patient outreach and education efforts.

Championing health equity by competing on behalf of marginalized and underserved patients every day.

Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) is critical to the success of Genentech and our impact on society. We are committed to transforming society through meaningful engagements in our communities that focus on advancing inclusive research and health equity in underserved patient communities.

Patient Advocacy Relations is expanding our work with organizations that specifically support underserved patient communities.

Among many things, these partners have enabled us to communicate in ways that reach patients of all backgrounds and to increase diversity in clinical research by prioritizing health equity in clinical trials.

Learn more about Genentech’s efforts to address health disparities.

Supporting through giving.

Each year, Genentech supports hundreds of patient-focused programs and services across the U.S. in more than 50 disease areas.

Learn more about Genentech’s corporate giving efforts.

Patient Advocacy Group Collaborations

Patient advocacy groups are experts in the experiences of the patients and communities they serve. Genentech engages with patient advocacy groups to impact the lives of all patients and caregivers.

Tackling health inequities in diabetic eye disease

The American Diabetes Association® (ADA) and Genentech have joined forces and are partnering on an aspect of the ADA’s Health Equity Now work to tackle the eye health barriers facing people living with diabetes in the Birmingham community.

Learn More
#MSVisibility

At Genentech, we understand health inequities are complex and cannot be solved overnight. Our #MSVisibility program is a series of initiatives designed to shine a light on the diversity and strength of the MS community and encourage people with MS, and potentially those who may not yet be diagnosed, to seek appropriate care.

Learn More
Driving greater health equity and outcomes for people facing cancer

Over the past two years, we have been working with the ACS to tackle disparities in cancer screening. As a result of this partnership, we have seen over 500,000 new screenings conducted and approximately 11,000 cancers diagnosed that may not have otherwise been found.

Learn More

Learn more about Genentech’s efforts to foster patient advocacy group partnerships, address health disparities and advance solutions to improve patients’ access to life-changing medicines: