The GSK campaign for allergy nasal spray Flonase stars a variety of lawn monsters and pollinator pains. Now the pharma is encouraging allergy sufferers on social media to build their own make-believe allergy monsters.
The “Face Your Monster” digital effort encourages people to input their allergens and symptoms online or mobile phone to create a personalized version of their seasonal misery – and then share a mini-video of it in action on social media.
Flonase is a GSK Rx-to-OTC allergy treatment that switched in 2015. While Rx-to-OTC allergy treatment switches are more common than in other categories – 11 of the 17 on the list of FDA switches since 2013 – Flonase was widely regarded as highly successful pulling in more than $250 million in less than a year after its launch. Prescription drugs are considered blockbusters at $1 billion, while OTC products are typically considered a success at more than $100 million.
Merz Aesthetics is getting its own jersey – on the North Carolina Courage’s women’s national soccer team. With its sponsorship of National Women’s Soccer League champion, the Merz Aesthetics logo will be featured on the back of players’ home and away uniform shirts through next year.
Merz, with products including injectables, medical devices and skin care treatments, kicked off the partnership with the Courage this past weekend. As part of the deal, Merz Aesthetics will host summer soccer clinics in the Courage’s hometown of Raleigh, NC, and host interviews with its players on social media. “The Merz Aesthetics team exists to fuel confidence, and there is no better representation of that than the dedication and perseverance of athletes who compete at this elite level,” said Patrick Urban, Merz Aesthetics North America president, in a press release.
The newly added team of soccer brand ambassadors join Merz spokesperson, actress and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow. She is the “global face” of Xeomin, its botulinum toxin product and an anti-wrinkle competitor to the industry giant brand Botox from AbbVie’s Allergan Aesthetics.
The newly formed Digital Health for Equitable Health (DHEH) Alliance is aiming to be a catalyst for change across digital health. The group includes drugmakers Teva Pharmaceuticals and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals along with nonprofit advocacy groups such as the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Howard University College of Medicine, Black Women’s Health Imperative and the Allergy and Asthma Network.
Tanisha Hill, president of the new group and Teva’s US senior medical director and respiratory and digital health medical lead, said in a press release: “Equity isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a critical movement that will save lives and ensure that, regardless of income, ethnicity or gender, all Americans can access digital technologies that can remove barriers to healthcare management and critical health services. Only by working together, can we make meaningful change in the lives of millions of people, and I encourage others to explore our mission and join us.”
As Mental Health Awareness draws to a close and a flurry of marketing campaigns promoting the importance of mental health wellbeing come to an annual end, anxiety remains a US problem. One-third of Americans say they are more anxious than they were last year while almost half (46%) say their anxiety remains the same, according to a new study from the American Psychiatric Association.
The good news is that Covid-19 fears are receding – 50% of those polled in the US say they’re worried about it, down from 65% in 2021. However, the not-so-good news is other events such as the war in Ukraine, racially motivated shootings and climate change are newly weighing on people’s minds, the APA said in a news release.
Americans are at least breathing a small sigh of relief though when it comes to their children’s mental health. Some 41% say they’re concerned about it, but that’s a decrease from 53% in 2021. The study was run by Morning Consult in April with more than 2,200 adults online.
Ogilvy Health is appointing agency veteran Courtney Murphy as its first global people director, a new executive level role overseeing talent management and recruitment along with overall human resources functions. Murphy joins from Hill Holiday where she was senior VP of human resources, and before that, served a 23-year tenure at Digitas North America where she rose to become VP director of human resources.
Merck is evaluating a potential buyout of embattled Seattle biotech Seagen, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal on Friday morning.
This is the newest development for the biotech after former CEO Clay Siegall stepped down from the company — while also forfeiting his board positions at other companies such as Umoja Biopharma — following allegations of domestic violence that surfaced last month. He was initially arrested in the early hours of April 23 after a physical altercation with his wife left her with multiple bruises, according to a police report. Siegall has denied the allegations.
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It’s one conference after the other in June. Now that #BIO22 is behind us, we’re shifting gears to Zach Brennan’s upcoming events at #DIA22 and on-the-ground coverage from Cannes Lions by Beth Snyder Bulik and Nicole DeFeudis. If you’re taking a long weekend like us — we’re off Monday in observance of Juneteenth — I hope it’s just what you need.
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The member countries of the World Trade Organization negotiated late into last night, finally offering up a compromised and watered-down way for some low-income countries to waive the intellectual property around certain Covid-19 vaccine ingredients and manufacturing processes, potentially paving the way for compulsory licensing for these vaccines.
While only in effect initially for five years, the waiver would hypothetically allow low-income countries to bypass certain Pfizer and Moderna patents to produce more Covid-19 vaccines.
Another OK, another 2,000 potential patients.
On Thursday, Rhythm Pharmaceuticals received its second FDA green light for its obesity management drug for those with ultra-rare genetic diseases, this time for Bardet-Biedl syndrome, a disease that impacts a number of organs but with early-onset obesity as a major symptom. And the company also engineered a royalty deal netting it up to $100 million.
The FDA approved the drug, known as setmelanotide and marketed as Imcivree, for patients 6 years and up after Phase III data in 31 Bardet-Biedl patients showed it decreased BMI by around 8% compared to placebo. Rhythm chairman and CEO David Meeker noted that while BMI was not a perfect measurement, the company opted to use it over weight because its study included pediatric patients who were still growing.
More than 18 months after adults were able to start receiving Pfizer-BioNTech’s and Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines, kids as young as six months are on the verge of being able to get inoculated against the pandemic virus.
The FDA authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines Friday morning under EUA after the agency’s outside advisors unanimously favored (21-0) administering the shots. Parents and caregivers just have to wait for the CDC to sign off before the youngest of America’s kids can get the vaccine.
The amyloid beta theory that has driven billions of dollars in failed Alzheimer’s research has taken yet another body blow.
Roche — and specifically its big sub Genentech — conceded defeat overnight for its closely watched Phase II API-ADAD trial of crenezumab in Alzheimer’s prevention. This follows twin Phase III failures — CREAD 1 and CREAD 2 in 2019 — and may well effectively mark the end of the line for a drug in-licensed from Switzerland’s AC Immune 16 years ago.
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Galderma is debuting its first portfolio campaign for aesthetics brand Restylane. The dermal fillers — which competes with Allergan Aesthetics’ filler Juvederm — plan to kick off “XpresYourself” first at PrideFest in New York City on June 26.
The event was chosen purposefully for its theme for 2022 “Unapologetically Us” which complements the thinking behind the new work that encourages consumers “to celebrate how they choose to express themselves,” a Galderma spokesperson said in an email.
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Johnson & Johnson’s new deal with a leading cancer organization aims to boost diversity in early phase clinical trials. The $5 million sponsorship agreement between Janssen and Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) will help fund four groups of researchers across the US working to remove barriers to enrolling more patients, especially those in “medically underserved” communities.
SU2C is currently taking applications for the research teams that will work with federally qualified health centers, clinics and local groups that are already partnered with the underrepresented populations. Team applicants who get a second go-around and invitation to submit a full application will have until the end of August. Teams will be selected in September.
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A panel of the FDA’s outside experts voted 9-3 that Acadia Pharmaceuticals’ drug doesn’t appear to be effective at treating patients with Alzheimer’s-related psychosis.
The drug, Nuplazid, is already indicated for Parkinson’s-related psychosis, but Acadia has tried — and failed last year — to get another green light in Alzheimer’s psychosis. The drug never panned out in the clinic for patients with depression or schizophrenia, causing Acadia multiple R&D headaches over the years.
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Bioscience & Technology Business Center The University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas
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