BeOne Medicines has tapped former professional soccer goalkeeper Tim Howard as the face of its first major corporate campaign, which plays on how the company is geared up to “save” lives.
Howard, 47, is considered one of the greatest American players of all time and earned the nickname the “Secretary of Defense” for his time in front of the goal.
BeOne is now teaming up with Howard for its “One Save Changes Everything” project, which the company told Fierce Pharma Marketing “draws a parallel between the saves made on the field and the saves made every day in cancer research, clinical care and in the communities around us.”
“We were looking for a well-known goalkeeper with a connection to cancer because so many other campaigns that lean into soccer focus on the striker: the player who scores and (often) gets the glory,” said Eleanor Duff, senior vice president and head of corporate affairs at BeOne Medicines, in an interview.
“We wanted someone who saves, who is the last line of defense and whose work often happens in the background without fanfare. This is a direct parallel to how progress in cancer care works. Most ‘saves’ don’t make the headlines, but every moment matters.”
Duff added that the company also liked the symbolic tie between BeOne’s name and the goalkeeper’s traditional No. 1 jersey, seeing both as representations of a unified team effort against cancer.
But the campaign also comes with a personal connection. Howard was 11 when he watched his grandfather battle cancer. He saw his family show up in ordinary ways—with dinners, walks and evening routines—and only understood as an adult that those small acts were their own kind of saves.
“His connection to the campaign runs deeper than the sport because of his personal connection to cancer,” Duff explained. “His grandfather’s cancer diagnosis shaped how he thinks about preparation, presence and showing up for people. When we first talked to Tim, it was very clear how like-minded we are. He didn’t need to be convinced of the parallel because he’d been living it.”
With the FIFA World Cup 2026 also set to play out across the U.S., Mexico and Canada this summer, Duff said soccer “was an obvious choice for us.” She added that the company also “loved the universality of the game, along with how accessible it is. Soccer transcends geographies, ages and socioeconomics.”
She added that the campaign was “less about celebrity reach and more about credibility and authenticity.” This is because when people are dealing with something as serious as cancer, “they look for trusted voices to help them make sense of it.”
Howard is one of several well-known goalkeepers involved in this phase of the campaign. BeOne Medicines is also planning to announce goalkeepers in Europe and Asia. Duff said, “As a global company, we felt it was important to amplify credible voices in each region, each with their own authentic story, in their own regions, in their own languages.”
As part of the project, BeOne will deploy its global digital and social channels alongside Howard’s platforms. The company has also launched a new digital hub, BeOneSave.com, where “new voices [will be] added throughout the year,” Duff said.
“We’re also showing up in the physical spaces where the oncology community gathers, with a dedicated presence at ASCO and EHA in our booth, via print advertising and an upcoming outdoor presence at ESMO-GI,” she explained.
BeOne will also donate $300,000 to support the construction of mini soccer pitches near cancer treatment centers through the U.S. Soccer Foundation, along with charitable contributions across Europe and Asia.