It’s not easy going for a play on words when the subject matter is as serious as blood cancer, but PharmaEssentia’s new campaign for drug Besremi manages to make its point with wordplay in an accurate and sensitive way.
The campaign, “What Counts,” emphasizes not only what’s important—enjoying every moment—in living with polycythemia vera (PV), a rare, chronic and life-threatening blood cancer caused by a mutation in bone marrow stem cells, but also the need to keep on top of red, white and platelet blood counts when managing the disease.
“Polycythemia vera is a disease that deserves all of its counts to matter, that is why our campaign is 'What Counts,'” Roddy McIlwain, senior vice president of sales and marketing at PharmaEssentia, said in an interview with Fierce Pharma Marketing. “The real focus is on what counts—it all counts, I’d like to emphasize that.
"We want to make sure that patients are getting all their counts treated, because if any one of them are not being treated and they are elevated, then something's not right, and they deserve to have all their counts treated.”
The excitement around Besremi is that instead of just treating the symptoms of the disease, it goes to the source of the disease—the bone marrow where a mutation of stem cells cause the overproduction of blood cells which can cause blood clots, stroke and heart attack.
To reach patients and caregivers, the pharma is using an omnichannel approach including digital and social media, myeloproliferative neoplasm advocacy groups and in-office information as well as, of course, a dedicated website.
McIlwain said the next steps include Besremi’s patient ambassador program, which covers not only the practical side of dealing with the disease but also how to talk to family and addressing the mental affects of having a chronic disease.
After initially being denied FDA approval in March of 2021, eight months later Besremi was greenlighted in November of 2021 (it had been approved in Europe in 2019). It is the first FDA-approved medicine for PV that patients can take no matter their treatment history. Other options for patients include Incyte’s Jakafi as a second-line treatment.