Metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is the most common cause of breast cancer-related deaths. VML Health and Gilead created the "Paintings of Hope" exhibition to help address the issue by changing legislation.

Combining groundbreaking AI technology and creativity, our team highlighted the feelings and hopes of patients and brought them to the attention of authorities in Spain and the health community at large, as well as the people of Spain and communities across Europe. As a result of the campaign, laws in Spain were changed that allow Spanish women to access treatments at the same rate as their European counterparts.

With the "Paintings of Hope" exhibition, VML Health and Gilead demonstrated that there’s still plenty of life in patients with metastatic breast cancer despite their prognosis.

Gilead Paintings of Hope
Paintings of Hope shows the more emotional side of AI and demonstrates the meaningful outcomes we can achieve when creativity and technology combine for a purpose.

Natxo Diaz

Global Head of Craft, VML Health

While breast cancer is one of the world's most frequently diagnosed cancers, secondary breast cancer – or metastatic breast cancer (MBC) – is the most common cause of breast cancer-related deaths. Despite high levels of support, awareness and understanding, research into breast cancer and secondary forms of the disease is much lower. Furthermore, MBC patients in Spain were denied access to critical treatments due the country’s longer drug approval times when compared with the rest of Europe.

With survival rates so low, waiting for treatment for breast cancer costs lives.

VML Health and Gilead created the "Paintings of Hope" exhibition to demonstrate that there’s still plenty of life in patients with mTNBC, or triple-negative breast cancer, despite their prognosis.

Using a groundbreaking AI technology and creativity, the team brought the feelings and hopes of patients to the attention of the authorities in Spain and the health community at large.

Three mTNBC patients were invited to give their own personal accounts of the realities of living with the disease. AI and sound analytics were used to convert the interviews into sound waves. These waves were interpreted by a specially trained AI robot, which reproduced them on canvases as paintings that turned the patients’ testimonies into art.

Through a major European exhibition, the campaign raised awareness of inequities in access to medicines and the emotional impact it has on patients. “Paintings of Hope” helped change the laws in Spain, ensuring approval times were brought in line with the European benchmarks – a legislative change that gives MBC patients faster access to vital treatments.

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Awards

2023 Art Director's Club Awards

2023 Art Director's Club Awards

Health - Artificial Intelligence: Process

Silver Cube

Press

VMLY&R Health's Natxo Diaz on 'Paintings of Hope' and Other Creative Triumphs in Healthcare
Muse by CLIO
How VMLY&R Health and Gilead use AI to highlight breast cancer
Creative Brief
From patients to paintings: VMLY&R, Gilead use AI to create art from breast cancer testimonies
Fierce Pharma

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