SAN FRANCISCO — McKesson Corp. is supporting World Cancer Day by expanding its commitment to reduce the devastating impact of cancer by making medicines and treatment readily available and by supporting those on the frontlines.

“Most Americans have been touched by cancer. We know that better cancer care is possible and McKesson is proud to play a part in making that a reality,” said John Hammergren, chairman and chief executive officer, McKesson Corporation. “We’re investing in new ways to support innovative therapy areas such as CAR-T cell therapy. We’re using our broad reach to make it possible for more patients to participate in clinical trials. And we’re providing mission-critical services and technology to our customers—so they can focus on giving patients the latest life-saving medical treatments and services.”

Here are some of the ways the company is investing in better care:

Connecting Patients to Latest Cancer Therapies

McKesson is helping more patients access the latest treatments through clinical trials. US Oncology Research, supported by McKesson, takes on the massive administrative burden of the clinical trials process for smaller, community-based practices, freeing them to participate.

“Clinical trials are often limited to urban areas or major research centers, which makes it hard for patients who don’t live in these areas,” said Dr. Neelima Denduluri, oncologist with Virginia Cancer Specialists and associate chair of The US Oncology NetworkBreast Cancer Research Committee. “When McKesson, through the US Oncology Research program, brings these trials to our communities, they’re bringing new hope to patients across the country.”

US Oncology Research centralizes and manages the distribution, business development, site coordination, technology infrastructure, contracting and budgeting of clinical trials—work that would normally take a team of full-time staff at each practice to perform. US Oncology Research has helped conduct more than 1,600 clinical trials with more than 75,000 patients participating.

In addition, drug treatments are costly, so McKesson advocates for patients and helps them secure copay assistance. Last year, Biologics by McKesson, the first independent specialty pharmacy for cancer and complex conditions, helped patients secure more than $28M in financial assistance from third parties so they could receive their therapies without delay.

Predicting Cancer Earlier and with Better Precision

McKesson Ventures is investing in companies like Komodo Health which is solving the problem of cancer diagnosis.

Komodo Health—through data analytics and artificial intelligence—analyzes the journey of more than 300 million patients to predict disease and drive earlier treatment. “Just as Amazon can tell you when you need more cereal or new running shoes based on behaviors, we’re learning from the journeys of patients across 50 billion clinical encounters how to train our algorithms to detect cancer well before symptoms manifest,” said Dr. Arif Nathoo, CEO of Komodo Health.

Freeing Up Providers to Focus on Patients

From hospital oncology departments to community-based oncology practices, McKesson’s technology solutions and services help handle the back-office operations giving oncologists more time to focus on providing care. The company offers flexible practice support including, full-service practice management through The US Oncology Network, software that engages patients via a portal designed for their needs as well as software that delivers secure web-based access to patient charts (iKnowMed EHR).

Supporting Employee Efforts

McKesson supports its employees as they generously—and enthusiastically—give back to their communities. For example, during the company’s annual Community Days event, over 16,000 employee volunteers produced more than 19,000 care packages for cancer patients across the U.S. and Canada. In addition, employees walked 2.4 billion steps as part of a charity ‘step challenge,’ raising $115,000 for cancer care. And since 2016, the company has added more than 5,200 new donors to the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Registry through internal bone marrow drives. To date, there have been 20 matches and three successful transplants.

Leonora Kinsella is one of the many McKesson Community Heroes who is making a difference. Leonora works at United Drug in Dublin, Ireland, part of McKesson Europe—and is one of the founders and trustees of Hugh’s House, an organization that provides a home away from home for families of children who are long-term hospital patients, many of whom are receiving cancer treatment.

“Having a child with a life-threatening illness is hard enough. It’s even more difficult when you’re separated during treatment because you can’t afford a place to stay nearby. The fact that parents do not incur any expenses while staying in Hugh’s House makes it all worthwhile,” said Leonora Kinsella.

To learn more about how McKesson is advancing cancer care, please visit: https://www.mckesson.com/about-mckesson/cancer-care/.