• by Les Luchter , April 8, 2024

“Voquezna Can Kick Some Acid,” boasts a blue superhero character in Phathom Pharmaceuticals’s launch marketing for what it calls the first major innovation to treat erosive GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) in more than three decades.

The one-minute spot compares prescription Voquenza’s effectiveness to that of lansoprazole, sold over-the-counter via Perrigo’s Prevacid brand. For one thing, “93% of adults were healed by two months,” compared with 85% taking lansoprazole. And, “of those healed, 79% stayed healed for six months,” compared to 72% taking lansoprazole.

Voquenza received FDA approval in November and became available a month later.

The commercial has been running on connected television (CTV) via Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV, Prime and other streaming services. Banner ads have also rolled out on such platforms as Instagram and Facebook.

The CTV and digital buys “are using third-party data to deliver ads to households that are likely to be diagnosed with erosive GERD and/or utilizing treatment options such as PPIs,” Phathom vice president of corporate communications Nick Benedetto tells Marketing Daily.

PPIs include not only lansoprazole/Prevacid, but such other drugs as omeprazole (Procter & Gamble’s Prilosec), esomeprazole (AstraZeneca’s Nexium, and pantoprazole (Pfizer’s Protonix).

Voquenza, on the other hand, is the first approved drug to fall under a category called potassium-competitive acid blockers (PCABs), which work differently than PPIs.

PCABs provide “much more rapid, potent, and durable acid suppression, have a quicker onset of action, and a longer duration of acid suppression.”” says Benedetto. In addition, unlike PPIs, they do not need to be taken with food.

The Voquenza campaign will expand to waiting room TVs this month, and then later in the second quarter to broadcast and cable TV, Benedetto reveals.

Largely designed to raise awareness and knowledge of the new drug, Phathom will measure the campaign at first through audience quality and survey-based efforts “to make sure ads are reaching the right people, how well the messages are resonating, and brand awareness, etc.,” he says. Then, “with time, we will measure patient requests, prescribing, and conversion rates.”

“Our goal is to connect with people unsatisfied with their current treatment options and empower them to explore the power of Voquenza with their healthcare provider,” Phathom chief commercial officer Martin Gilligan said in a press statement.

Phathom, which focuses on gastrointestinal diseases, went public in 2019.