Pigs do fly in Jazz Pharmaceuticals' TV commercial for sleep disorder med Sunosi.
The new ad—and the 50 new sales reps brought on board this month—kick off Jazz's next marketing phase and reinforce its effort to build on Sunosi's more recent approval in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
A man yawns through his day at home and work in the TV commercial, oblivious to the flying pig doing loop de loops outside his windows. As the voice-over tells viewers, “If you have obstructive sleep apnea and you’re often tired during the day, you could be missing out on amazing things.”
Launched in 2019 as a narcolepsy treatment, Sunosi’s initial marketing focused on payer coverage and early uptake with physicians. The new phase expands Jazz’s DTC efforts to reach consumers while doubling down on physicians with the sales rep boost.
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“Our experience historically with direct-to-consumer has been really helpful in allowing people to recognize their symptoms and maybe seek help,” Chairman and CEO Bruce Cozadd said, adding that Jazz is excited to roll out the next phase and “ramp up support behind Sunosi in 2021.”
The additional Sunosi-only reps will expand Jazz’s reach, working to strike up new relationships with pulmonologists, who hadn’t been a target audience before and were more difficult to reach during the pandemic.
Jazz has a long history in sleep disorder conditions, but its drug Xyrem was approved in 2002 for narcolepsy only, while Sunosi is now cleared to treat excessive daytime sleepiness in both narcolepsy and OSA. Jazz estimates 12 million people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with OSA but also believes many others are undiagnosed.