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| Craig Campbell |
As it prepares to streamline itself and rebrand as a life-sciences-focused company, Bayer is counting on colorectal cancer drug Stivarga to chip in to its sales haul--big time. But the drug can only go so far if people don't get checked for the lethal cancer.
So, Bayer is working hard to help nonprofit Fight Colorectal Cancer get the word out during Colorectal Cancer Awareness month. To kick off the effort, Bayer treated about 100 of its HealthCare business' employees to a special performance from country star Craig Campbell, New Jersey's Daily Record reports. As part of the event last week, Campbell debuted a new song inspired by his father, who died of colon cancer at age 36.
"I just turned 36 myself," he told the paper. "I want to be here for when my kids graduate high school and get married. Who else is going to pay for the wedding?"
Bayer is also helping out with Fight CRC's One Million Strong campaign, designed to promote awareness and encourage disease screenings. As part of that effort, it's announced plans to donate $1 for every photo posted with the hashtag "#StrongArmSelfies"--up to $25,000--in a move it thinks will help raise awareness through social media, the Record says.
As Fight CRC President Anjelica Davis told the paper, the organization is hoping to build on some big social media numbers from years past. After reaching one million people in person and through social media impressions during the first year of the campaign, last year, it hit 12 million.
And the more people it can get to this year, the better, as far as Bayer's top line is concerned. Joined by new-age anticoagulant Xarelto, eye med Eylea, pulmonary arterial hypertension therapy Adempas and fellow cancer treatment Xofigo, Stivarga is part of a group of new launches that Bayer is depending on to keep things rolling through this year's divestment of its plastics unit.
All told, the company expects those Big 5 to generate €4 billion this year--a substantial leap from this year's €2.9 billion tally, it said late last month.
- read the Daily Record story
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