VYVGART Brand Launch Team
argenx
Agency Partners: Avalere Health, Snow Companies, Princeton10, Syneos Health, minds + assembly
argenx Team Members:
Katrina Sergeev Gary, Senior Director of Patient Marketing and Engagement
Alyson McNamara, Associate Director of U.S. Patient Marketing
Lindsay Tatnall, Associate Director of U.S. Patient Marketing
Shikhar Agarwal, Vice President, Head of U.S. Marketing
Rebecca McLeod, General Manager, U.S.
Avalere Health, Team Members:
Ryan Mason, Chief Marketing and Creative Officer
Julie Spoleti, SVP, Director of Client Services
Marisa Bernstein, VP, Account Director
Amy Klug, VP, Account Director
Jim Kelly, Executive Creative Director
Princeton10 Team Member:
Marcos Sanchez, Founder & Principal Managing Partner
Snow Companies Team Member:
Robert Jones, SVP Client Services
minds + assembly Team Member:
Phuong Nguyen, Client service director
Syneos Health Team Member:
Stephanie Bukantz, SVP
Generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) is a rare autoimmune neuromuscular condition that affects approximately 70,000 people in the U.S., often resulting in double vision, loss of the ability to chew/swallow, extreme muscle weakness, and respiratory crisis. For decades, there’s been limited innovation in MG therapies. argenx was a new biopharma company preparing to launch its first commercial product VYVGART (efgartigimod alfa-fcab) Injection for Intravenous Use as a treatment for gMG. Additionally, a few competitors were also gearing up to introduce new MG treatment options. argenx had a short window of time to establish leadership in the MG space.
Leading up to launch, argenx and its partners built a robust database to raise awareness and educate people about VYVGART. This digital community, MG United, served as a central resource for useful information and connection with other patients. Prior to launch, the focus was on disease awareness initiatives including MG Illuminate (a streaming, two-hour event held to introduce the official launch of mg-united.com); the virtual premiere of “A Mystery to Me” (the first-ever documentary series about MG); and Cooking Together (a collaborative cookbook for MG patients). The two years spent building relationships with the MG community and building MG United paid off. By VYVGART launch, the team surpassed their goal of new opt-ins to the database by 219% by EOY 2022.
With the brand set to launch, the team once again brought the community together for a virtual product premiere, “We Rise Together,” which was the first time in pharma a virtual gathering was held to celebrate the availability of a new treatment option. Additionally, the team turned to DTC advertising, including TV, which is not common in the rare disease space, but proved extremely effective. First, an unbranded TV spot was created to help patients imagine what they could do if a new therapy were available. Then, “picture your life in motion” was used as the tagline for a branded spot to introduce the idea that there’s a treatment option that can lead to symptom improvement. And “My VYVGART Path,” a patient support program, was created to help patients who are on treatment navigate their journey.
Thanks to all of these efforts, argenx surpassed its goal for patients on VYVGART treatment globally, with the majority coming from the U.S.
