Novartis is partnering with dancer, choreographer and television personality Carrie Ann Inaba to launch a new disease awareness campaign for Sjögren’s syndrome.
Sjögren’s disease is a disease in which the patient’s glands, which normally produce body fluids such as tears and saliva, stop working properly.
Sjögren’s syndrome can have a variety of symptoms, but common ones include dry eyes and mouth, muscle and joint pain, and extreme fatigue.
Inaba, 58, is familiar with the disease since she was diagnosed in 2013. She is currently lending her voice to Novartis’ “Sjöut for Sjögren’s” campaign and will be featured in a new video series and social media content.
The campaign features a new website “designed to empower, inform, and engage patients in more meaningful discussions with their physicians through features such as patient testimonials, physician conversation tools, and interactive quizzes,” Novartis told Fierce Pharma Marketing in a statement.
You’ll soon see a new prompt where you can share your “Sjöut” on social media. “The campaign also includes new television and audio commercials featuring the famous national anthem that motivates patients to shorten,” Novartis added.
Sjöut will be launched to coincide with Sjögren Awareness Month in April.
The Swiss pharmaceutical giant is currently working on a phase 3 trial of Sjögren’s promising inalumab, a dual-mechanism B cell ablation antibody targeting the protein BAFF-R.
Last August, Novartis reported topline data from two late-stage trials, both of which met their primary endpoints, showing that the drug candidate demonstrated improved disease activity compared to placebo at 52 weeks, as measured by the EULAR Sjögren’s Syndrome Disease Activity Index.
This is a bright spot amidst many setbacks for new drugs for this disease. Novartis itself halted development of its anti-CD40 antibody iscalimab for Sjögren’s disease last year after questioning its competitiveness.
The year before, another major pharmaceutical company, Sanofi, removed Sjögren’s CD40L monoclonal antibody flexaliumab from its list of eligible indications after confirming Phase 2 efficacy data. Just recently, Kinixa Pharmaceuticals completed development of Sjögren’s drug avipurvert, which was planned to be developed in-house.
