As Sanofi Genzyme and Regeneron continue to add indications for their next-gen immunology treatment Dupixent, the partners have created a separate unbranded campaign to raise overall awareness about type 2 inflammation and its connections across multiple diseases and conditions.
The HCP-targeted “Type 2 Inflammation Connection” debuted at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in October as the first of a planned series of events at medical congresses around the world. Its goal is to bring attention to type 2 inflammation, specifically among advocacy groups and the media, as it's a relatively new therapy area.
“There is still a lot of educating to do even with who you would classify as subject matter experts in a lot of these conditions,” Brian Foard, Sanofi Genzyme's global lead for dermatology and respiratory, said.
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Marcie Ruddy, VP of clinical development respiratory and inflammation at Regeneron, said she noticed at the inaugural event that “lightbulbs went off for some people” when a patient spoke about his experience with multiple health conditions including atopic dermatitis, asthma and nasal polyps, which are all connected to type 2 inflammation.
“One of the reasons we launched this campaign is to help people understand that this type of inflammation can cause not just one, but often many, type 2 diseases in one patient or within one family,” she said.
Sanofi and Regeneron's Dupixent is approved to treat atopic dermatitis and asthma in adolescents and adults, as well as chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps in adults. The companies are also studying Dupixent in a broad range of clinical development programs in type 2 inflammation, including pediatric asthma and AD, eosinophilic esophagitis, grass allergies and peanut allergy.
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The ERS congress event began with a large-scale interactive gallery, set up with photos and stories from patients and caregivers around the world. Visitors could walk through the exhibit with tablets to learn and hear more. An expert presentation from a respiratory professor at Oxford followed the walkthroughs, which then led to an open-forum discussion with a panel that included experts and researchers as well as a patient and a patient advocacy group representative.
While future events will vary based on local expert availability, the companies expect to use the same general strategy, Foard said.