BIO and its members share a commitment to discovering and developing innovative medicines to fight and cure disease and improve the lives of patients. In an effort to achieve our shared goals of bringing new treatments to patients, BIO and its members often work together with patient advocacy organizations to better understand the patients we serve, to help raise awareness and understanding of a disease, and to advance patient-focused public policies. BIO and its members are proud of the many collaborations they have with the patient advocacy community. To ensure that these collaborations respect the independence of all partners and are built on integrity and trust, BIO developed a set of guiding principles which reflect these values to help inform interactions between BIO members and the patient advocacy community.