Allergan taps actress Chenoweth for 'Less Red, More You' rosacea push

Tony Award-winning singer and actress Kristin Chenoweth is showing audiences a new face. She’s the star of the first marketing campaign for Allergan’s newly approved Rhofade to treat facial erythema, more commonly known as facial redness.

Chenoweth, who has struggled with the facial redness of rosacea for years, has begun a press tour speaking out as part of Allergan’s “Less Red, More You” awareness campaign. The actress recently began treatment with Rhofade on her doctor's advice with considerable success.

The goal of this initial effort is to focus on raising awareness of the problem of persistent facial redness, Jag Dosanjh, Allergan’s senior VP and president of medical dermatology, said in an interview. The malady affects an estimated 16 million people in the U.S., but only a small number seek treatment.

“Only about 10% of people with this condition go and see a doctor. Another 15 million people are suffering in silence, who, we think, if they realized there was an option available, might go and see a dermatologist,” he said. “…Kristin can empathize very clearly with the target (audience) we’re talking to who are just suffering in silence and avoiding social events or situations, because she’s suffered with it for years.”

A paid media campaign is also in the works, Dosanjh said, but details haven’t yet been finalized.

Rhofade was Allergan’s first FDA approval of this year, in January, and it  will compete for market share with drugs such as Galderma’s Miravaso, oral antibiotics and—maybe most competitively, according to one analyst—with laser therapy. Bernstein analyst Ronny Gal noted that competition in a client note in January but also noted that Rhofade “works incredibly well," pegging sales for the drug at a $300 million peak.

Allergan, in fact, has already seen marked consumer interest. Since the launch of Rhofade, media impressions to its website have been “significant,” indicating to Allergan that the launch has tapped into something, Dosanjh said. The “Less Red, More You” campaign awareness push should help to “unearth the latent demand we think is out there,” he added.