Roche keeps an eye on MS diversity with latest awareness work

“Community” is tossed around as a buzzword for many drugs and many disease states, but the patients on Roche Genentech’s Ocrevus have taken their community so far as to have their own hand signal.

Depending on how you look at it, the two-fingered “V” which has featured in the ad campaigns for the drug over the last few years can mean “victory,” “peace” or even “two,” as in Ocrevus’s twice-a-year dosage. The signal is front and center in the blockbuster’s “Two Times A Year” year DTC spot, which is getting some big-ticket spending media-wise, estimated at $10.4 million in June.

“The peace sign is truly a broader statement of self empowerment, this notion of peace out to the burden of MS,” said Jennifer Kim, vice president and head of neuroimmunology at Genentech.“And what's nice is there's a duality of that message because it's also a twice yearly infusion.”

This year marks five years since the FDA approved Ocrevus as the first ever B-cell therapy that brought something different to the MS community. Kim says that from that first day Genentech has worked with the MS community to really understand what they need, “part of our mission and our story is to make sure that we understand that firsthand experience of MS patients their aspirations, and ultimately I think innovating on on behalf of them. And so you can see a lot of the DTC campaign and the evolution of that truly representing how and which we've deeply understood, listen to and partner with as the brand continue to evolve.”

So while the peace sign has always been a part of the story and will continue to be so, Kim says the pharma’s current focus is on the “diversity and strength of the broader MS community.” The “Two Times A Year” spot showcases with Ocrevus’ very own brand ambassadors who are a mix of ages, ethnicities and physical abilities. All ambassadors are Ocrevus patients, and the spot shows them doing real things in their lives, from riding a motorcycle to crafting to just enjoying stillness.

In addition to the television spots, the campaign can be seen on online and streaming digital channels such as YouTube and Spotify. There are display ads on endemic and health-related websites, as well as various social media channels aimed at those with MS.

Genentech is also reaching out to the 35% of Black and Hispanic/Latinx patients who have MS. Unfortunately, only 13% of that group is actually receiving treatment, so the pharma has invested in a suite of work aimed at that group including a Spanish-language DTC campaign as well as other efforts to reach this demographic.

Roche's blockbuster and bestseller Ocrevus is the top prescribed MS medicine in the U.S. for patients both starting therapy for the first time and switching from a previous drug. It raked in $5.1 billion last year with FDA approvals for both relapsing and primary progressive types of multiple sclerosis. The advertising push is serious as well with ad spending hurtling from $6.6 million in March to $11.7 million last month.