As it continues to ramp up sales of its attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug Qelbree, Supernus Pharmaceuticals is getting Busy to raise awareness of the med among an often-overlooked group.
Busy Philipps, that is. Supernus tapped the actor and actual Qelbree user to head up a new direct-to-consumer campaign targeting women with ADHD, who go undiagnosed and untreated for the condition at disproportionately higher rates than their male counterparts.
The campaign documents Philipps’ path from feeling misrepresented—as the symptoms she was experiencing didn’t seem to match up with traditional narratives about ADHD—to reaching a diagnosis and becoming “Ms. Represented,” also the initiative’s title.
In a video on the campaign page, housed on the Qelbree website, Philipps discusses that journey and urges other women experiencing similar symptoms to talk to their doctors about possible treatments, saying, “It’s time we flip the script.”
Philipps wasn’t diagnosed with ADHD until well into adulthood. Until then, she said, “I thought I was just too loud, too scattered, too much. … I just thought that I couldn’t keep up.” She was inspired by her young daughter’s ADHD diagnosis to seek one of her own, and, since doing so and beginning treatment with Qelbree, she said she “can finally understand [her] brain” and has been able to better manage her symptoms.
“ADHD isn’t something you just have to deal with,” she concludes. “Every woman deserves to feel seen and supported in their ADHD journey.”
Elsewhere on the campaign page, links lead to a sign-up page for further information about Qelbree and ADHD along with a short quiz to help guide discussions with doctors.
Statistics cited in Supernus’ launch announcement Tuesday note that boys are twice as likely as girls to be diagnosed with ADHD, and even adulthood diagnoses for women can be tricky, as they often present with inattentive symptoms that are overlooked or dismissed, compared to the hyperactivity more typically associated with ADHD and more common in boys and men.
“At Supernus, addressing the individualized needs and symptoms experienced by people with ADHD remains our priority, and that includes acknowledging the nuanced and often overlooked ways ADHD can present in females,” CEO Jack Khattar said in the release, adding, “Busy’s openness about her own experience makes her an ideal partner to help us encourage meaningful conversations about ADHD in women.”
Qelbree was first approved by the FDA in children between the ages of 6 and 17 in 2021, when it became the first new non-stimulant ADHD med to earn the agency’s green light in 20 years. The drug’s adult approval followed a year later.
Analysts have predicted that Qelbree could achieve about $400 million in annual sales by 2026. Last year, the med reeled in just over $240 million, representing a 72% increase from 2023’s total. Its upward trajectory has continued so far in 2025, as the first quarter’s nearly $65 million in net sales marked 44% year-over-year growth, and Supernus logged an all-time high in monthly prescriptions for the drug in March.