Endo has certainly captured the public's imagination with its Peyronie's disease (PD) campaigns before—think wonky veg—but, this time, it’s playing it straight.
The company, which markets Peyronie's treatment Xiaflex to help reduce the curvature in the penis, is teaming up with nonprofit sexual health group the Sexual Medicine Society of North America to launch its self-assessment tool, now available as an app.
This is not a diagnostic tool, nor has it been registered as one. It is instead part self-education tool as patients can document their penile curvature with a 3D scan and a 2D image, and the app also has a self-assessment questionnaire based on the signs and symptoms of PD.
Most importantly for Endo, another trick of the app is that it allows patients to find a local healthcare provider to talk about the condition. While the app does not have branding from the drug, having potential patients visit their doctors could eventually lead them to Xiaflex, the only nonsurgical drug FDA-approved treatment for the disease.
One year ago, Endo took a different and more sardonic tact, using a bent carrot to illustrate the disease in a now famous TV ad. It was part of its wonky vegetables motif, using a playful visual for Peyronie's. Now, it's a more serious affair with the app, as it looks to broaden awareness by giving people an easy tool they can use on their phones.
“The journey to treatment for men with PD can take upward of seven years,” said James Tursi, M.D., executive vice president of global R&D at Endo, in a press release.
“We hope that by putting educational material and a documentation tool literally in men's hands, they can feel more empowered to take control of their symptoms and talk to a urologist about their curvature.”
Xiaflex, works by reducing collagen and is also FDA-approved for Dupuytren's contracture, a progressive hand condition that forms a collagen ropelike cord that pulls fingers toward the palm. The drug made $432 million, up 37%, in 2021.