After scoring a long-awaited FDA approval last fall, Eli Lilly has launched a consumer-facing campaign to get the word out about its atopic dermatitis treatment Ebglyss.
Ebglyss is a once-monthly injection that was approved to treat moderate-to-severe eczema in people who haven’t responded well to prescription topical therapies. It’s cleared for use in adults and children as young as 12 years old, provided they weigh at least 88 pounds. Lilly has also touted the results of what it calls a “first-of-its-kind study” proving the medicine’s efficacy in people with darker skin tones, among whom eczema can present differently than in the stereotypical red patches.
With those factors in mind, the new promos—representing Lilly’s first branded DTC push for the drug—make a point of showcasing people of a variety of ages and skin tones.
A 60-second commercial begins with a montage of snapshots from actual eczema patients before introducing a diverse group of actors to portray everyday life with eczema. Throughout the ad, as a cover of Mary J. Blige’s “Real Love” plays in the background, the cast members, who include a teen boy and several adults of various skin tones, are shown giving work presentations and hanging out with friends and family.
Eczema “isn’t always obvious” and “isn’t always red,” they say in a voiceover, before adding, “But now, eczema isn’t going to stop you even though it tries to.”
The commercial goes on to highlight study results showing that skin can be “still more clear at one year” with the help of Ebglyss. Fine print clarifies that of the approximately 40% of study participants who achieved itch relief and clear or almost-clear skin at the 16-week mark, “most” maintained those results after a year of treatment with the medication.
The broader campaign will take a “digital-forward approach,” according to a Lilly representative, with an aim of reaching people “where they are already spending time online” and reeling them in with its diverse representation and use of the chart-topping 1992 song.
“This new Ebglyss commercial was informed by patient insights that revealed that eczema doesn’t show up the same in everyone and can be hard to identify in many patients,” Ashley Diaz-Granados, senior vice president of U.S. immunology at Lilly, said in a statement sent to Fierce Pharma Marketing.
With its diverse cast and use of real eczema photos, she continued, “the campaign aims to reach and resonate with patients who feel underrepresented in eczema treatment.”
Lilly’s ADmirable study, results of which were shared last spring, recruited 50 participants with moderate-to-severe eczema and “darker skin tones as measured by the Fitzpatrick scale,” representing a wide range of races and ethnicities, per the company. After 16 weeks of treatment with Ebglyss, nearly 40% of participants had achieved clear or almost clear skin, and 56% achieved clinically meaningful itch relief—results on par with those from Lilly’s larger studies of the treatment.
Johnson & Johnson has taken a similar approach toward marketing its Tremfya for a diverse swath of people with psoriasis. In 2022, the company launched its own “first-of-its-kind clinical trial” to study the immunology drug in people who identify as non-white and have plaque psoriasis and scalp psoriasis. Results from the study have since proven the drug’s safety and efficacy in treating psoriasis across virtually all skin tones.
J&J plans to publish a large library of clinical images collected in the study to counteract the dermatology textbooks and other research materials that predominantly include photos of white skin. And, in a new Tremfya campaign launched last fall, the company made a point to spotlight people of color with psoriasis, who, as the ad itself pointed out, often aren’t seen in commercials for skin conditions.