Justin Mattice, Executive Director of Men’s Health Marketing, Endo Pharmaceuticals
Peyronie’s disease is named after French surgeon François Gigot de la Peyronie who first described the condition back in 1743. While the idea of this disease has been around for more than 275 years, few have heard of it—that includes both physicians and patients. But when patients do finally hear this disease’s name, they can only feel relief. That is because many men suffer in silence with this disease that can cause painful, curved erections due to a build up of plaque in the penis. And if they have now heard of it, they may want to thank Justin Mattice who has worked with his team to increase awareness of this condition.
First, Justin’s team targeted potential suffers with LearnAboutPD.com, a disease state awareness campaign that used the visual metaphor of men holding curved vegetables to represent their penis. The campaign acknowledged that there is no normal for everyone, but everyone does have their own normal, so if their penis is different then it is time to speak to their urologist.
Additionally, Justin’s team also has to educate urologists about this condition as only about 2,000 of the 10,000 to 12,000 practicing urologists in the U.S. had a good working knowledge of Peyronie’s disease. The goal: Provide physicians with one question they could ask their patients to assess whether they might have Peyronie’s disease: “Do you have a lump, bump, or curve to your erection?”
Ultimately, both campaigns helped increase awareness and allowed patients to finally be treated. One measure of proof: XIAFLEX, the only FDA-approved treatment for Peyronie’s disease, grew 33% versus the prior year.
