Horizon Therapeutics has had its foot on the gas with its disease awareness campaigns this year, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, it's now adding “all-star patient advocates” to its roster.
These all-stars are Wanda Durant, mother of NBA Star Kevin Durant, and—returning for a second year to Horizon—three-time Olympic gold medalist Gail Devers. Both suffer from Graves’ disease, an autoimmune condition where the immune system mistakenly attacks the thyroid, causing it to become overactive.
That overactivity boosts by 50% the risk of thyroid eye disease (TED), a progressive and potentially vision-threatening rare condition that can be treated with Horizon's drug Tepezza.
Adding to what Devers calls her “relay team,” Durant is picking up the baton, having lived with Graves’ disease herself for 17 years. Mama Durant or “The Real MVP,” as she is known, is encouraging a greater focus on TED education and symptom monitoring.
“In all my time living with Graves’ disease, I never knew that I was at risk of TED until hearing Gail’s story,” said Durant in a statement. “Together, we are on a mission to make sure everyone living with Graves’ disease knows the symptoms of TED so they can keep a close watch on their eyes and seek the right care if needed.”
July is also Graves’ Disease Awareness Month and, as part of that, Horizon has signed Devers and Durant to its “Listen to Your Eyes” podcast episodes, which will also feature others living with TED, their caregivers and TED experts.
Back in May, Horizon tapped Devers for its new "Dear TED" campaign, which saw her feature in a video with visibly red and sore eyes from the disease. In it, she wrote her own personal letter to TED, which she described as her “unwanted houseguest for 30 years.”
Horizon nabbed an FDA approval for Tepezza in TED in January 2020 and made $501 million in the first quarter of 2022, making it the company’s biggest-selling drug.
Ahead of its Tepezza approval back in 2019, the company launched “Listen to Your Eyes,” an unbranded awareness campaign designed to help build up a social media community around the disease.
But amid the pandemic, when so many ophthalmologists were forced to close their doors during the lockdown phases of COVID, the company switched things up and launched its first DTC ads. This was to help boost awareness of its network of more than 1,000 infusion centers as well as its move to digital communications with doctors.
Last summer, Horizon ran its first ad to boost awareness about Graves’ disease and its connection to TED.
The company has also delivered a variety of marketing pushes in the last six months for other diseases. For instance, in February, Horizon joined up with internet sensation Doug the Pug to bring lyrical awareness to rare diseases. In March, it tapped "MasterChef" winner Christine Ha to add culinary marketing flair to vision disease awareness.