Regeneron is sprinkling a little fame on its campaign to prioritize eye health, enlisting Debbie Allen as the face of a push to get people to check in on their vision on the eighth day of every month.
Allen is an actress, dancer and director who, among other entertainment garlands, won an acting Golden Globe and a choreography Emmy for her work on the TV series "Fame" in the 1980s. Now in her 70s, Allen has partnered with Regeneron, the manufacturer of the blockbuster eye disease drug Eylea, and Prevent Blindness to create "Gr8 Eye Movement," a disease awareness campaign.
“It’s crucial for people like me—who are from communities of color, are over the age of 60, or who are living with diabetes or at risk of developing diabetes—to educate themselves about the risk of developing a retinal disease,” Allen said in a statement.
Allen is joining the Gr8 Eye Movement “to encourage anyone at risk to check their eye health regularly.” Specifically, the people behind the campaign are aiming to establish the eighth of each month as the day that people check in on their vision. The choice of day reflects the fact that the number 8 looks like eyes when turned on its side, making it a visual reminder for people to check their vision.
The Gr8 Eye Movement offers people the chance to sign up to receive eye health reminders and includes a video of Allen dancing and discussing her health. After being diagnosed with prediabetes, Allen began looking into the broader implications and learned about how it could damage the back of her eyes.
In the video, Allen checks her vision using an Amsler grid. The grid features horizontal and vertical lines and a small dot in the center. All the lines are straight and uniform, but people with macular disease may see wavy or missing lines when they cover one eye and view the grid. The Gr8 Eye Movement features a PDF that includes an Amsler grid and an explanation of how to use it to test eye health.
Regeneron is backing the disease awareness campaign as it works to defend its ophthalmology franchise from Roche's Vabysmo and biosimilar copies of Eylea. The Big Biotech has a lot resting on the franchise, with Eylea accounting for around half of its revenues in the second quarter.