Genentech/Roche launch eye-opening ad for Vabysmo

Genentech/Roche launch eye-opening ad for Vabysmo

By Christiane Truelove

Just over a year since Genentech and parent Roche gained approval for Vabysmo, an injectable ophthalmic medicine to treat wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema, Genentech had launched the first DTC ad for the product. Showing a woman expanding her world from the confines of the ophthalmologist’s office as she steps through an eye-shaped portal to go to the beach, hike, and other activities, the spot intends to position the drug as the more flexible treatment for these conditions compared with rival Eylea, marketed by Regeneron and partner Bayer.

According to Erin Echter, Ph.D., director of Marketing for Patients and Caregivers in Ophthalmology at Genentech, when it came to developing the concepts for the spot, “Patients and caregivers have been our North Star.”

The company didn’t just run focus groups with a handful of patients. “We talked to hundreds of them,” Echter says. “And one of the things that we heard from patients was losing their vision made their world feel small.”

Patients told Genentech “they didn’t go out as much or as far, they couldn’t necessarily do all the activities they wanted to because they were losing their sight and getting frequent injections,” Echter says. “So the idea for the campaign was to show how getting your treatment with Vabysmo can be a way to open up your world again, and improve your vision. So in that way, you could say, that came from an actual patient, and we validated it with many other patients.”

The branded eye-shaped design in the spot “helped patients really cue vision and they could really see themselves in that position of the patient” featured in the ad, Echter says.

The spot plays up Vabysmo’s advantage over other treatments. While other treatments have to be injected as often as every month, Vabysmo, depending on the patient and the progress in vision, could be given every four months.

While the spot is being shown during morning talk show slots, Echter says the campaign is omnichannel. “We have video, not just on TV, but also we have other channels such as radio, digital print, and caregiver support materials,” she says.

And while the main spot features a white woman, Echter adds that these other materials emphasize Genentech’s commitment to “delivering on diversity, and inclusion across all of our patient efforts.”

“So throughout this campaign, we spoke to a diverse group of patients and caregivers to shape the overall idea. But we also know one of our our key indications, diabetic macular edema, is a condition that disproportionately impacts black Hispanic and Latino patients. So campaign elements and messaging and and patient outreach reflects exactly that.”