Novartis is taking social media by storm with a multiple sclerosis (MS) campaign that urges patients to #KnowYourMS, a message backed by British Olympian Laviai Nielsen.
Throughout the summer, the company has been posting a blend of patient stories and short branded videos across its social channels to amplify its patient advocacy push in MS and inspire patients to bring up concerns about their condition with their doctors. The videos link to Novartis’ “you know your MS best” webpage, which has a stated goal of helping patients decide if it’s worth bringing up changes in their condition with their doctor.
The page is full of resources that can help patients prepare for a doctor visit, including an MS checklist, workbook and questionnaire to help track symptom changes.
In Novartis’ branded videos for the campaign, women are depicted running into MS symptoms while going about their day, at work or with their family. In each clip, the woman stops and considers if the symptom is a change in her MS.
“Does doing things with your hands feel more difficult than it used to?” Novartis asks in the caption of one Instagram video. “Don’t push changes in your MS to the back of your mind. Start a conversation with your doctor today!”
The messaging is further reinforced by Nielsen, who partnered with the company in an MS-focused social media collaboration.
Nielsen, an Olympic bronze-winning sprinter, opens up about her MS in a series of collaborative Instagram posts that ran on both Novartis’ page and her own. The first video follows a popular online video format of “story time” videos, in which creators sit down in front of the camera to tell a personal story.
Posted in July, Nielsen’s collaboration with Novartis fell on the fifth anniversary of her MS diagnosis, a story she says she hasn’t publicly shared until now. In the video, the athlete delves into the symptoms she experienced while racing at high-profile sporting events and explains how she went to physicians to push for an answer to her symptoms before finally receiving a diagnosis two days before she was scheduled to leave for the Tokyo Olympics in 2022.
The video gives Novartis’ and Nielsen’s audience a real and personal look into her diagnosis journey, interspersing clips of her racing, waiting in the doctor’s office and images of her official diagnoses throughout.
“I wanted to share this story for anyone who’s living with MS or anyone who knows anyone who’s living with MS to listen to those subtle changes that are happening in your body,” she said. “You have a voice, and you can talk to your doctor and take that first step in moving forward.”
Nielsen and Novartis’ collaboration continued with other videos spread across both pages. In one, Nielsen shares “3 things I do differently since being diagnosed with MS.” In another more recent video, Nielsen discusses how “the best decisions come from honest conversations” and explains how she gets the best care by being open and honest about her condition with her healthcare team and her coach.
The posts, which all include “#ad” with Novartis in the captions, were well received by MS patients and supporters, who flooded the comments with encouragement and appreciation for her willingness to share her story.
Neilsen is one of several MS advocates Novartis has featured recently surrounding its global campaign urging patients to listen to their body’s warning signs and bring up potential concerns with a physician. Most recently, the company released a longer video featuring three patient advocates, who share anecdotes about experiencing subtle MS changes that led to drastic shifts over time. In each advocate’s self-filmed contribution, patients Andra, Ellen and Damian voice the same message, reminding others “you know your body.”
Novartis has historically showcased MS patients’ voices in its advocacy efforts and notes on its MS webpage that it sees patient groups as a “key partner in our decision-making.” The company further points out that it has been at the forefront of several groundbreaking MS innovations over the last decade, including producing the first oral disease-modifying therapy over a decade ago and most recently making the only self-administered targeted B-cell therapy, Kesimpta, in 2020.
Just this week, Novartis made another splash in the MS scene with a pair of phase 3 wins for its BTK inhibitor Rhapsido, besting Sanofi’s older Aubagio at reducing annualized relapse rate in relapsing MS. The company now plans to file for global regulatory approval of the drug in MS, an indication that would join its initial 2025 approval in chronic spontaneous urticaria.