Julie Spoleti
SVP, Director of Client Services
closerlook, a part of Fishawack Health
Breaking the Conventional Rules
By brand launch standards, the product introduction for VYVGART (efgartigimod alfa-fcab) Injection for Intravenous Use was a great success. The brand team achieved significant brand awareness in less than 12 months, and surpassed the goal for patients on treatment, significantly exceeding earning projections. closerlook’s secret weapon in guiding this complex, ambitious, “launch of a lifetime” to such rewarding results? Julie Spoleti.
Julie is no stranger to launching rare disease brands. In fact, in her 30+ years of experience, she has worked in every disease category and has already introduced multiple brands in the rare disease space. She understands the struggles patients go through in getting a diagnosis, in seeking out therapies, and in living with their conditions daily. She is also a strong advocate for educating rare disease patients about new therapies.
Julie was instrumental in leading teams through all aspects of the launch, including many of its most innovative strategies. For example, an ambitious direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising campaign, which is an unusual move for a rare disease brand.
The two-part campaign began with an unbranded DTC TV spot featuring real people living with myasthenia gravis (MG) listing the simple, emotionally moving reasons they’d be interested in a new treatment option. A VYVGART-branded DTC TV spot quickly followed, in which both the struggle of life with MG and the promise of better daily life thanks to VYVGART was dramatically depicted. This campaign represented the first time the rare disease MG had ever been mentioned on a national TV commercial, which helped to catch the entire MG community’s attention and inspire their enthusiasm.
When argenx was asked how Julie and the brand team performed, one person said, “Julie and the closerlook team were instrumental in the successful execution of the launch campaign…Julie’s intuitive leadership, commitment to the team, and deep understanding of [our] needs and business priorities make her an invaluable asset.”
