Kaleo has launched the AUVI-Q Speaks Up campaign to share the stories of patients, caregivers and healthcare providers with severe allergies.
The company sells AUVI-Q, an epinephrine injection used to treat life-threatening allergic reactions such as anaphylaxis. Kaleo, which competes with Viatris’ EpiPen, has enhanced its product by adding audio instructions that guide users through each step of the epinephrine injection process. When the user removes the outside of the package, the auto-injector will issue a voice prompt.
Kaléo gave a nod to this feature by putting the device’s voice actor at the center of communication with the name of its latest campaign, AUVI-Q Speaks Up. In a two-minute video, Melissa Chase, the voice of AUVI-Q, talks about the campaign and invites people to share their stories.
To kick off the campaign, the company published Chase’s conversation with a mother raising three children with food allergies. Mother Lisa describes the first time her eldest son had an allergic reaction. At the time, Lisa didn’t know what to do and didn’t receive epinephrine injections. After being prescribed AUVI-Q, Lisa told Chase that it gave her a “feeling of calm.”
Kaleo published this conversation alongside three previous videos about how food allergies affect families. The campaign’s website has a form that people can use to submit their stories, and Kaleo said the form may be used throughout the website and campaign-related materials. The company also offers resources to help people who suffer from allergies.
“Having a plan, always carrying two doses of epinephrine, and knowing how to use it in high-stress situations can make all the difference in ensuring families are aware of what’s going on and ready to respond,” Vivian Hernandez Trujillo, MD, clinical professor of pediatrics at Florida International University in Miami and spokesperson for Kaleo, said in a statement.
Kaleo competes with multiple companies for the market. ARS Pharmaceuticals sells Niffy, an epinephrine nasal spray, and Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Viatris sell injectable formulations of allergy medications.
