SAPHNELO: Defy Lupus Launch Campaign (AstraZeneca and VMLY&R Health)
SAPHNELO, a new treatment for lupus (SLE), launched in August 2021. It was the first FDA approved SLE treatment to be introduced in 10 years. Until launch, a stagnant market left rheumatologists prescribing damaging OCS and one approved therapy.
SAPHNELO required a bold campaign to motivate rheumatologists to break habitual prescribing habits. AZ & VMLY&R introduced the “DEFY” campaign, positioning SAPHNELO as the SLE biologic that could finally defy the disease that has defied science for so long. Rheumatologists saw how targeting a central cause of SLE with SAPHNELO could help them finally realize their SLE goals.
The “DEFY” campaign motivated rheumatologists, and the “do more at the core” tagline represented a hallmark attribute that grabbed their attention. The results of the “DEFY” campaign exceeded objectives. Brand awareness rapidly grew to almost universal awareness, and this omnipresence continues, as 95% of rheumatologists expect to prescribe SAPHNELO within six months.
