With cries of “Bill! Bill! Bill!” still echoing from the ’90s, Biogen has signed on to a partnership that’s getting Bill Nye back in the lab.
The beloved television presenter is now starring in a four-part web series that was created in the new team-up between Biogen and the U.S. National Ataxia Foundation (NAF) and brings the quirky humor of “Bill Nye the Science Guy” to the science of Friedreich's ataxia (FA).
Nye first partnered with the NAF on an awareness campaign one year ago, inspired by his own family’s experience with spinocerebellar ataxia type 27B. The campaign included videos of the science educator discussing ataxia, a set of degenerative conditions that lead to loss of coordination and muscle control. Nye presented the videos, none of which ran for longer than two minutes, in a kitchen with little set dressing.
The first Biogen-backed “The Science Guy: Back in the Lab for FA” episode boasts higher production values. Across the almost five-minute film, titled “What Is FA & How Is It Diagnosed,” Nye enters a lab outfitted with props such as an old-school desktop computer and talks to Christian, a scientific researcher living with FA who helps Nye explain the science of FA.
After a cold open, the same format Nye used in his ’90s TV show, a new theme song and opening credit sequence plays. The theme song features a rap that includes the lyrics, “Pull up to the lab, it’s been a minute; the Science Guy’s back with a special mission.” Nye, first seen folded into a tiny yellow taxi, appears alongside cartoon graphics in the opening credit sequence.
The campaign’s website features similarly nostalgic imagery. A cartoon graphic of a CRT television with integrated VHS player features an embedded YouTube video as its screen. Visitors can click VHS tapes below the TV to watch different episodes of “The Science Guy: Back in the Lab for FA,” although only one of the four installments is currently available.
New episodes will launch weekly. They’ll feature additional quirky characters and cover topics like how the disease is passed on genetically, how it causes symptoms and more, according to the series launch announcement.
“Ataxia runs in my family, so I’m all too familiar with its symptoms. ... When it comes to our health, understanding what causes these symptoms helps a person cope and prepare,” Nye said in the announcement. “I'm hopeful that these videos will help patients and family members understand what might be happening, so that they can get a proper diagnosis and take the appropriate steps.”
Nye’s humorous approach to a serious subject is in keeping with Biogen’s own efforts to raise awareness of FA and its treatment for the disease, Skyclarys. Biogen and ad agency 21Grams won a Gold Pharma Lion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity earlier this year for their “Friedreich’s Back” social media campaign, which aimed to explain the disease and the treatment while also being entertaining.
The Nye campaign is launching as Biogen works to expand diagnosis and treatment of FA. Last year, the company’s U.S. rare disease team redirected investment toward patients treated in the community. The pivot moved Biogen’s focus away from the centers of excellence that drove initial Skyclarys sales and toward community neurologists and primary care providers.
On an earnings call in July, Alisha Alaimo, head of North America at Biogen, outlined the biotech’s work to find patients in need and educate physicians about the progressive nature of FA. Community neurologists and primary care providers wrote about 70% of new start forms in the second quarter, Alaimo said, giving Biogen confidence that it can keep growing sales of Skyclarys, which it acquired in a $7.3 billion deal back in 2023.