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World Cancer Day: continuing innovation in oncology for patients

World Cancer Day is an ongoing campaign of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), an organization with over 1,200 member organizations in 170 countries2. The aim of this initiative is to raise awareness and get as many people as possible involved in one of the greatest health challenges of our century in a quest to prevent millions of cancer-related deaths.

The 2025 anti-cancer campaign is based on the message “United by Unique”. This groundbreaking new campaign explores the unique stories of patients united in their fight against cancer. Behind every patient is a person. Putting the person before the patient, UICC stresses the importance of taking the patient’s personal experience of cancer into careful consideration to facilitate treatment tailored to his or her specific needs. A philosophy and approach we share at Servier.

Nearly 10 million

people die from cancer every year around the globe.3

2nd

Cancer is the 2nd leading cause of death worldwide.4

1 in 5

Around 1 in 5 people develop cancer during their lifetime – and around 1 in 9 men and 1 in 12 women die from it.5

Over 40% of deaths

are associated with avoidable risk factors (smoking, alcohol consumption, poor diet, physical inactivity).6.

Almost 1/3

of all cancer deaths could be prevented through regular screening, early detection, and treatment.6

70%

of cancer-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries6.

Guided by the needs of patients, we strive on a daily basis to discover and develop medicines in areas where the needs of patients are not yet adequately covered. Faced with the devastating burden of cancer, we have made oncology one of our strategic priorities, devoting over 70% of our Research & Development budget to the field.

To that end, we draw on and leverage the expertise of our research centers around the world: Symphogen in Denmark, SRIMC in Hungary, our R&D center in Boston, and our R&D Institute in Paris-Saclay.

Our R&D teams devote their time and energy every day to developing therapeutic innovations and providing treatments specifically targeting certain rare cancers. Their research is particularly focused on digestive cancers, brain tumors, and hematological cancers.

More than 22,000

Servier employees devote their time every day to provide innovative therapeutic solutions to serve patients.

Our vision is to become an innovative and focused player in the treatment of rare cancers by 2030. We believe in a collaborative innovation approach to develop a pipeline through a dynamic partnership strategy. By expanding our network of partners, we aim to accelerate research time and give each project the best possible framework for development.

Our R&D programs in oncology are therefore focused on two promising and complementary therapeutic approaches:

  • Immuno-oncology, designed to activate the immune system to fight cancer cells;
  • Targeted therapies, which act specifically on a particular biological mechanism of cancer cells.

Our substantial investment in the fight against cancer is now reflected in a pipeline of 30 projects: 16 in development and 14 in research (to January 2025). The conclusive results of our clinical trials have already enabled us to make a portfolio of eight medicines available to healthcare professionals and patients.

Created with and for patients, The Patient’s Side of the Story podcast series is the project to emerge from a collaboration with a group of expert patients. Through these testimonials, several patients share their personal experiences with us.

Janet’s story

Janet West was diagnosed with tongue cancer in 2019 and underwent an eleven-hour operation. Her story is featured in the first episode of “The Patient Side of the Story”.

Listen to the podcast in its original version on all media platforms by clicking here.

Oriana’s story

Oriana was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer at the age of 22. Thanks to her ingenuity and perseverance, and despite relapses, she found the path to recovery: Oriana has been in remission for eight years.

Listen to the podcast in its original version on all media platforms by clicking here.

Check out all episodes of “The Patient Side of the Story” on servier.com and on the patients-ensemble.fr channel, as well as on Spotify, Deezer, Google Podcast, and Apple Podcast!

Another example of our commitment to working with and for patients is the range of videos and educational guides dedicated to digestive cancer patients.

These materials are part of the SHAPE program (Support Harmonized Advances for better Patient Experiences), an international initiative we introduced in 2018 in collaboration with the patient association Digestive Cancers Europe (DiCE). Co-designed with patient-experts, patient representatives, caregivers, and healthcare professionals, the association provides invaluable support to patients and their families throughout their disease journey.

The educational guides provide a wealth of practical advice on how to improve patient care and quality of life in the face of cancer:

  • MyJourney: To guide patients through every stage of their cancer journey;
  • MyMood: To help patients manage their emotions in their fight against cancer;
  • MyDialogue: To help patients communicate with healthcare professionals;
  • MyFood – Healthy Eating: To help patients embrace healthy eating;
  • MyMove: To encourage patients to increase their physical activity;
  • MyWeb: To help patients find reliable information about cancer on the Internet.

The brochures have also been published in a version that targets healthcare professionals. They are designed to help care experts better understand their patients and deal with any questions that may arise.

  • Adapting to metastatic Gastric Cancer (mGC): to help patients living with metastatic gastric cancer as well as their caregivers.
  • Adapting to metastatic Colorectal Cancer (mCRC): to support patients living with colorectal cancer as well as their caregivers.

In 2024, for the second year running, we solidified our position in the PatientView survey ranking of pharmaceutical companies that work with cancer patient associations worldwide. We made it into the Top 3 in oncology and were ranked No. 1 in several categories in the United States.

Did you know?

Ranked No. 3 out of 26 companies in PatientView Report 2023, a survey of pharmaceutical company reputations compiled by oncology patient organizations.

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[1] World Health Organization / Global Cancer Observatory 2022, International Agency for Research on Cancer / World Health Organization : https://gco.iarc.who.int/tomorrow/en/dataviz/isotype?age_end=17&single_unit=1000000&types=0 – consulted on 12/13/2025
[2] World Cancer Day: https://www.worldcancerday.org/about/our-story – consulted on 12/13/2025
[3] World Health Organization / Global Cancer Observatory 2022, International Agency for Research on Cancer / World Health Organization : https://gco.iarc.who.int/tomorrow/en/dataviz/isotype?age_end=17&single_unit=100000&types=1 – consulted on 12/13/2025
[4] World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/health-topics/cancer#tab=tab_1#:~:text=A neoplasm and malignant tumour are other common names for cancer. Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, accounting for an estimated 9.6 million deaths, or 1 in 6 deaths, in 2018. – consulted on 12/13/2025
[5] World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/news/item/01-02-2024-global-cancer-burden-growing–amidst-mounting-need-for-services – consulted on 12/13/2025
[6] World Cancer Day: https://www.worldcancerday.org/about/why-cancer – consulted on 12/13/2025