• by Les Luchter , August 2, 2025

Pharma firm UCB, which has previously advertised Bimzelx for treatment of psoriasis -- including this spot that debuted during last year’s Oscars -- and for psoriatic arthritis -- has extended its “Get Yourself Back” campaign theme to reflect the drug’s recent FDA-approved indication for hidradenitis suppurativa (HS).

HS, a not-so-rare skin disease, affects an estimated 3.3 million Americans and manifests itself through permanent scarring, caused by boil-like abscesses, most often occurring in skin creases like armpits, the groin area, and the buttocks. Other symptoms include intense pain, pus discharge and odors. 

The new campaign features three commercials, each with a real HS patient “sharing their authentic real-life stories, as they go from covering up their disease to throwing away the items holding them back, like bandages and extra layers of clothing,” Brittany Blair, UCB’s head of patient strategy & solutions, explains to Marketing Daily.

“I’m starting to feel like I’m back,” says a patient in one spot. “I’m back to making a difference.”

The campaign also includes digital and social ads, in-office promotional materials, and a website featuring educational content and a downloadable discussion guide designed to empower patients to speak with their doctors about HS.

Visits to the website and number of downloads will help measure campaign success, Blair says, along with other metrics such as use of the site’s dermatologist locator.

The TV spots are running across broadcast, streaming and connective TV, with Jacques NY as the creative agency and Publicis Health Media handling the media buy.

Prior to Bimzelx’s approval for HS, UCB had run an unbranded disease awareness campaign “Make HStory,” from Havas Tonic.

Other drugs approved to fight HS include Novartis’ Cosentyx and AbbVie’s Humira, now available under different names from numerous companies.

Blair notes that while HS “can affect people of every gender, race, and body type,” young adults and females are at greater risk. “HS onset usually occurs in a person’s 20s or 30s,” she says, and “flare-ups may be more common in life stages involving hormonal changes, such as during puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, or menopause.”

Blacks and people who are overweight are also more at risk of getting HS, about 90% of patients are current or former smokers, and nearly a third have a family history of the disease.