South Korean biosimilar company Celltrion is signing up Mollie Pearce, a contestant on the British TV show “The Traitors,” to help front its latest “Where’s Crohn’s & Colitis?” campaign.
Pearce, a 22-year-old healthcare assistant, was a runner-up on this year's popular BBC show, where contestants use loyalty and betrayal to win. She has utilized her fame to talk openly about her bowel conditions.
She was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC) at the age of 11 and now lives with a stoma she calls “Sid” due to complications from her UC during her teenage years.
Pearce is teaming up with Celltrion, the pharma company that markets a biosimilar version of AbbVie’s Humira along with other drugs that have licenses for UC and Crohn’s among other autoimmune and inflammatory conditions.
The pair’s new campaign focuses on “access to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) care and treatment as the burden of the condition rises globally,” Celltrion said in a statement. Biosimilars are typically priced lower than the original drugs they have copied.
The hope is that raising awareness of the factors driving these burdens will “encourage improved access to a timely diagnosis, high quality care and innovative treatments,” potentially including Celltrion’s products, though these are not directly mentioned in the release.
“Living with a condition such as UC comes with so many challenges—from sometimes not being able to leave the house to missing out on social occasions with friends,” Pearce said in a statement.
“That’s why I’m so passionate about being an advocate for the IBD community and helping others to break down barriers and do the things they never thought were possible once they were diagnosed.”
This is the second “Where’s CC?” campaign, which was first launched last year for World IBD Day, which falls in May.