PM360 2019 Trailblazer Awards App/Digital Solution or Suite Winner Novartis and Intouch Solutions

Novartis “Out-of-Body” CAR-T Virtual Reality Experience (Novartis, Intouch Solutions)

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, or CAR-T, is the first (but not only) approved gene therapy in the United States, and it is creating quite a buzz. The novel nature of CAR-T cell therapy requires a good amount of HCP education—both to enable understanding of the new technology and to disrupt old norms around effective cancer treatment. The primary goals of the Novartis “Out-of-Body” experience were education and engagement for oncologists. Through intuitive use of VR technology and stunning animation, Intouch Solutions set out to immerse oncologists in a realistic environment that would recreate the mechanism of action (MOA) for CAR-T therapy.

The experience functioned as an educational tool at medical conferences. CAR-T is very new, complex, and hard to explain (it literally involves taking cells out of the body) and so requires a special type of visceral education. “Out-of-Body” was programmed to allow oncologists to go through the motions of the MOA step-by-step with colleagues watching along the way.

Featuring state-of-the-art 3D medical animations, guided narration, gesture-based action, and special effects that were tied seamlessly together in just eight weeks, “Out of Body” helped oncologists understand the science behind Novartis’ tisagenlecleucel and see exactly how it works at the cellular level. This experience converted them from general understanding of CAR-T as a treatment option to a specific CAR-T engagement.

The “Out-of-Body” VR experience debuted at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) conference in December 2017 and was so popular with the 25,000+ conference attendees that it was also brought to several more events throughout 2018—where it also proved a hit. In keeping pace with ever-evolving experiential trends, Out-of-Body went wireless via the Oculus GO, re-introducing itself to crowds at ASH 2018, once again treating the audience to a new level of scientific invention and hyper-relevant immersion.

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