Archō today released the 2025/2026 ELAVAY Oncology Advocacy Intelligence Report, the annual read on which companies cancer advocates, professional societies, and community-based organizations trust to act in the patient interest. Eli Lilly finishes first in five of the eight measured categories. Pfizer finishes first in two and places in the top three of all eight, the only company in the oncology field to do so.
Seventeen companies earned mentions across the oncology field: Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, Bristol-Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca/Alexion, Genentech/Roche, Daiichi Sankyo, Merck, Bayer, Eisai, Gilead/Kite, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Astellas, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Ferring, and Natera. Oncology remains the most crowded league table Archō tracks, and the gaps between ranks are narrower here than anywhere else in the dataset.
“Oncology advocates work with more companies than any other community, so recognition is hard to earn and easy to lose. Eli Lilly won on consistency. Pfizer won on reach. Both beat the field by showing up before they needed something,” said Matt Toresco, Founder and CEO of Archō.
WHO LEADS, AND WHERE
Advocates ranked the companies they had worked with in the past 12 to 18 months, then rated their top three on a seven-point scale. Archō weighted recognition against rating to build each league table. The leaders follow, and the full report carries the scores behind them.
WINS: PARTNER FIRST, SPONSOR SECOND
Across five categories, advocates describe the same behavior when they explain the Eli Lilly score. The company treats advocacy organizations as working partners rather than grantees, and it brings its scientists into the room.
“Lilly stands out for the way it treats patient and professional groups as true partners rather than transactional stakeholders,” wrote one oncology advocacy leader. Another pointed to a specific event: “I was especially impressed by the patient panel at their Patient Advocacy Breakfast during SABCS 2025. What stood out most was how approachable and patient-centered the conversation felt. Questions were welcomed, and responses were delivered in clear, patient-friendly language.”
Advocates credit Pfizer for a different strength, sustained presence. “They genuinely want to support patient advocacy organizations. They attend our events and care about our mission,” one wrote. Another put the reach plainly: “Long-standing history of building these relationships.”
ADVOCATES RANK DISEASE EDUCATION FIRST, AND THE IRA NOWHERE
Oncology advocates set their own priorities in this report, and federal drug pricing does not make the cut. Disease awareness and education takes the top spot by a wide margin. Not one respondent ranked the Inflation Reduction Act as their first priority. Just under half report any active policy engagement inside their organization at all.
Sentiment on the law itself sits in the middle. The largest group expects the IRA to have neither a positive nor a negative effect on their patients, with the rest split between cautious optimism and concern about unintended consequences. Advocates connect the law to 340B funding, payer behaviour, and access management rather than to list prices.
The pressures they do organize around sit closer to the treatment decision. A clear majority call non-medical medication switching a serious threat to their patients. Only half feel educated on copay accumulator and maximizer programs, and two thirds of organizations sit outside the FDA patient-focused programs built to carry their voice. The full report breaks down each of these, plus 340B reform, excluded drug lists, prescription drug affordability boards, quality-adjusted life years, and CRO performance on trial access.
“Oncology advocates are not ignoring policy. They are triaging. When a patient cannot name their own diagnosis, education beats the Inflation Reduction Act every time. Companies that lead with pricing talking points in this space are answering a question nobody asked,” Toresco said.
FROM INSIGHT TO ACTION: THE ADVOCACY INFLUENCE DIAGNOSTIC
ELAVAY measures how the outside world sees a company. Its companion tool, the Advocacy Influence Diagnostic (AID), measures how a company’s own organization sees and uses its advocacy function. AID sorts advocacy leaders into four personas, the Architect, the Defender, the Underdog, and the Whisperer, and surfaces where internal influence lags external rank.
“A company can place in every category outside and still lose the budget argument inside. AID tells advocacy leaders where their internal stance trails their external reputation, and where to fix it,” said Toresco.
The full 2025/2026 ELAVAY Oncology Report carries every league table, the ratings behind each rank, and the advocate testimony in full. For the report or a private briefing on where a company sits inside the dataset, visit https://archo.io or contact Matt Toresco at [email protected].
About ELAVAY
ELAVAY turns patient and advocate insight into industry-level intelligence. By tracking how advocacy and community-based organization leaders score the companies serving their patients, ELAVAY gives healthcare organizations a clear, longitudinal read on their reputation, access position, and policy standing across the patient community.
About Archō
Archō gives patients a voice and drives positive change in healthcare. Through training, market research, and advocacy, Archō educates the industry on the value of patient-directed care and helps healthcare companies do well by doing good. Archō keeps the patient at the center of healthcare decision-making.
