Argenx is urging patients to “Live Vyvidly.” The biotech put the message out in a direct-to-consumer TV ad that paints Vyvgart Hytrulo as a drug that can help people with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) live life to the fullest.
The FDA approved Vyvgart Hytrulo in CIDP, a rare and debilitating peripheral nervous system disease, in June. Argenx’s sales accelerated in the wake of the approval, climbing from $478 million in the second quarter to $737 million over the final three months of the year. Seeking to maintain the momentum, the biotech has rolled out a new TV campaign.
Argenx’s ad focuses on two people with CIDP, played by actors but inspired by the patient community. The ad opens with a woman heading toward a car with the support of a walking stick. The second star of the ad, a middle-aged man, is introduced on the golf course.
The pair agree CIDP “is no walk in the park,” but, with the help of Vyvgart Hytrulo, the ad shows they are still able to enjoy life. The woman drives her partner to meet friends at a gathering of food trucks and says, “I’m hitting the road with my number one.” The car’s license plate—NMBR 1—leaves uncertainty about whether she is referring to her partner or vehicle.
Those scenes are interspersed with shots of the man, who appears to be wearing ankle braces, playing golf—or, as he puts it, “hitting fairways with the fellas.”
Purple, a color that recurs across Vyvgart Hytrulo marketing materials, is prominent in the ad’s palette. The golfer is wearing a purple flat cap and polo shirt, while the woman drives a purple car. As in the “Vyvgart Hytrulo” logo, the first “Y” in “Live Vyvidly” is purple and stylized.
The ad focuses squarely on CIDP—Vyvgart Hytrulo is also approved in myasthenia gravis (MG)—but there could be spillover benefits to the TV spot. Talking at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference last month, argenx CEO Tim Van Hauwermeiren said “the halo effect of being able to market CIDP next to MG opened up new prescribers to us” in the fourth quarter.
One quarter of CIDP prescribers “were never seen before at argenx,” the CEO continued. Because many doctors treat both conditions, argenx believes prescriptions for CIDP can lead to increased use in MG. The jump in sales in the fourth quarter reflected both use in CIDP and a “halo effect” in MG as prescribers became familiar with the product and began using it in another patient population.