• by Les Luchter , September 28, 2026

U.S. Olympics gymnast Suni Lee has been battling against two rare kidney diseases since 2023. A year later, she joined the American Kidney Fund’s “Know Your Kidneys” awareness campaign.

Now, she’s partnered with Biogen on “Keep Your Momentum,” an educational campaign targeted to the rare kidney disease community.

The campaign is not unbranded, though, as Biogen openly displays the name of Empaveli, its treatment for two specific rare kidney diseases: C3G and primary IC-MPGN.

But those are not necessarily the same two diseases affecting Lee, whose “medical history was never really part of the conversation,” Lynn Leber, the Biogen vice president who heads U.S. Empaveli operations, tells Marketing Daily. “We decided to partner with Suni because we thought her story of living with rare kidney diseases would resonate broadly.”

In a sample social media post, Lee doesn’t mention using Empaveli -- or any other treatment, for that matter.

Instead, she focuses on lifestyle behavior, like drinking matcha and water, preparing and eating balanced meals, journaling and taking walks, stating that “living with a rare kidney disease has definitely taught me to be more intentional about my health.”

The campaign, running through early 2027, includes paid as well as organic social, along with website content at KeepYourMomentum.com, which also provides visitors with many other resources.

A “big thing” Biogen has learned from patients with rare kidney diseases, Leber says, is that they “value hearing from others” who also have rare kidney diseases.

That’s why “Suni Lee was the perfect partner,” she explains. “She’s also been on very familiar journey of gathering information, managing setbacks, and working with her doctors to find a treatment plan that allowed her to ‘keep her momentum,’ and re-enter the world of elite gymnastics.”

,Leber adds:“By sharing her experience, Suni can inspire so many others to take control of their treatment journey, advocate for themselves, and partner with their healthcare team to explore what else is available to them and find the best treatment plan.”

Empaveli is included in the campaign precisely because helping patients find the best treatment plan is one of the goals, and “for those living with C3G and primary IC-MPGN specifically, there is a treatment available.”

Launched five years ago, Empaveli is a twice-weekly injection that’s the only medicine indicated for the treatment of patients aged 12 years and older with C3G, and the only medicine indicated for primary IC-MPGN.

Both are “ultra rare diseases,” Leber notes, with “a little bit more than 5,000 patients” being diagnosed.

The drug began life under Apellis Pharmaceuticals, which Biogen acquired for $5.6 billion in May.

Suni Lee, incidentally, also has eczema, leading to her involvement in awareness ads for Lilly and product ads for Henkel’s All Free Clear detergent.