Endo is ramping up the next phase of its Dupuytren's contracture marketing drive. Not long after running its first branded ad for Xiaflex in the indication, the drugmaker has dubbed September the first annual National Hand Health Month, aimed at boosting awareness of both Dupuytren's contracture and Xiaflex as a treatment for it.
Dupuytren’s is caused by collagen that forms a ropelike cord in the hand and can prevent people from straightening their fingers. The condition, which Endo says affects an estimated 13 million Americans, can progress to the point that it is hard for people to perform daily tasks and activities using their hands.
Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, now part of Endo, won approval for Xiaflex in the indication in 2010.
Deep into the life cycle of the drug, Endo has recently stepped up its marketing and awareness activities, including with the debut of new unbranded and branded TV spots for Dupuytren's. Amid the inaugural National Hand Health Month, the company is rolling out a broader social and digital campaign.
Throughout September, Endo will share information about Dupuytren's on platforms including Xiaflex social media channels and its corporate website, and it has also partnered with two healthcare providers who will share information with their social media audiences
In the middle of the awareness month, Endo will also host an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) Q&A session on Reddit. The Sept. 17 event will allow users of the social media forum to put questions to a Xiaflex patient and a physician who specializes in hands. The patient, Steve Riden, is the star of the branded ad Endo started running early this year.
Riden has told Reddit users to ask him about what it feels like to have Xiaflex injected in your hand, the symptoms that led to his diagnosis and why he opted against surgery. The physician, Damon Adamany, M.D., will be fielding questions about how Dupuytren's is diagnosed, the right time to get treated and what the recovery from a Xiaflex injection is like.
Companies including AstraZeneca and Currax Pharmaceuticals have included Reddit in their marketing plans this year. Endo’s use of the AMA format follows in the footsteps of Novo Nordisk, as the Danish drugmaker previously made an AMA part of the “It’s Bigger Than Me” campaign.
Sales of Xiaflex, which is also approved in Peyronie’s disease, increased by 9.4% to $138.6 million in the second quarter. Endo, which recently merged with Mallinckrodt, expects high-single-digit growth in sales of the drug for the full year.