While many campaigns for plaque psoriasis treatments focus on erasing the external effects of the condition, Sun Pharma’s latest Ilumya push is emphasizing the importance of looking inward, too.
The “I Luv Ya for the Long Haul” campaign delves into the emotional impact of living with psoriasis and celebrates the journey toward empowerment and self-love that patients may experience once they’ve found an effective treatment regimen.
In a series of videos on the Ilumya website, several people with psoriasis sit down on the bright yellow “Luv Seat” with a family member, dermatologist or life coach to discuss their experiences with the condition and how Ilumya has helped them get it under control and, in the process, find confidence and reclaim their lives.
“Our goal with the campaign is really about empowering those that live with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis to not give up hope; to recommit to their treatment journey with a sense of renewed optimism and love—to look forward to their life journey around what matters most to them,” Maureen Shannon, Sun’s head of biologics marketing, said in an interview with Fierce Pharma Marketing.
Ultimately, she said, “This campaign is really about empowering patients to love themselves and to know that they’re not defined by their condition.”
Sun chose to address the impact of psoriasis beyond its sometimes “unbearable” physical symptoms after speaking to Ilumya patients, Shannon said.
“Hearing their stories, the undercurrent of everything in their lives is this toll that is taken—sometimes at a subconscious level, most definitely at an emotional level—where they actually, in some ways, are hiding from being their fullest selves because of the skin condition,” she said.
“Even though that might not be something that’s most commonly talked about, it is a really big part of psoriasis patients’ reality, and we wanted to recognize that that’s a really important step in being able to have a life journey that’s filled with the things that are most important to them and the experiences that are most important to them,” she continued. “And then, in that process, if you find the right treatment, you can actually self-actualize what it is that matters to you most.”
The campaign kicked off last month with a segment on Jennifer Hudson’s daytime talk show, where Hudson sat down for a chat about the emotional and physical impacts of plaque psoriasis with Caroline Robinson, M.D., a dermatologist and Sun Pharma partner. The segment ended with the pair announcing a $10,000 donation from Sun to the National Psoriasis Foundation.
Beyond that TV appearance and the patient stories and videos housed on the Ilumya website, Shannon said the “I Luv Ya for the Long Haul” materials will also be pushed out via social media and that Sun will “continue to pursue opportunities through the National Psoriasis Foundation” to reach more people with the condition.
As Shannon noted, the new campaign builds on Sun’s previous promos for Ilumya, which have also stressed the physical and emotional relief of finding an effective psoriasis treatment. It’s an extension of the company’s previous campaign, “The Long Haul,” which used a cross-country road trip as a metaphor for the journey many people with psoriasis go on as they spend years trying a variety of treatments before finding one that works for them.
“We are very focused on partnering and being committed to patients with psoriasis over the long term, because this is a chronic condition, and it’s not something that will go away,” she said. “So, it fits very nicely with the idea that we want to partner with and support the community and patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis through that journey.”
Ilumya has been approved since 2018 and, like several others in the psoriasis space, is an IL-23 inhibitor. Unlike many of those competitors, as Sun touts in the drug’s promotional materials, injections are required only four times a year after two initial starter doses, a lower frequency than Johnson & Johnson’s Tremfya and some dosages of AbbVie’s Skyrizi, both IL-23 inhibitors, as well as other psoriasis treatments like Novartis’ Cosentyx, AbbVie’s Humira and more.
During an earnings call (PDF) last month, Dilip Shanghvi, Sun’s founder, chairman and managing director, reported that global sales of Ilumya had grown nearly 22% year over year to reach $580 million for the company’s 2024 fiscal year, which ended March 31. Meanwhile, the drug is currently in a phase 3 trial assessing a potential second indication as a treatment for psoriatic arthritis.
Editor's note: This story was updated to clarify that the new campaign is an extension of Sun Pharma's previous "The Long Haul" initiative.