Art Garfunkel is breaking the sound of silence around his experience with plaque psoriasis. The singer, one half of the folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, has teamed with Sun Pharma to discuss how Ilumya provided a bridge over troubled water.
The FDA approved the interleukin-23 antagonist Ilumya for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in 2018. By the time Garfunkel’s physician prescribed Ilumya, the singer had been living quietly with psoriasis for years and had tried a range of treatments including creams, ultraviolet light and other biologics, he said in a video created with Sun.
“They provided some temporary relief, but the itching always came right back,” Garfunkel said. “After my first few doses [of Ilumya], my skin was clearing up, life started to change for me. It really felt good. Ever since starting Ilumya two years ago, my skin has been almost entirely clear.”
The experience led Garfunkel and his wife Kim to open up about his experience of living with psoriasis. Kim, who married Garfunkel in 1988, said she had no idea the singer was dealing with psoriasis when they first met, but with hindsight, there were signs. Garfunkel dressed for outdoor summer concerts “as if it were the middle of the fall,” Kim recalled, covering his arms and legs with clothes to hide his psoriasis.
Sun has incorporated Garfunkel into the “I Luv Ya for The Long Haul” campaign that it started last year. The 4.5-minute video conversation between Garfunkel and Kim now sits alongside other patient stories on the Ilumya website.
Ilumya has emerged as a key product for Sun as it works to grow its specialty drug business in the U.S. and offset pressures on its generics unit. Talking on an earnings call in January, Abhay Gandhi, CEO of Sun’s North America unit, said (PDF) the underlying business and prescription trends for key growth brands, including Ilumya, “remain strong.”