Lundbeck, Otsuka make their Alzheimer's agitation pitch as Barbara Corcoran joins new campaign | Fierce Pharma

After nabbing a new FDA license for Rexulti in Alzheimer’s agitation last year, the drug’s marketing duo Lundbeck and Otsuka are diving into the deep end to spread awareness about the disease.

And who better to help spread that message than Barbara Corcoran from "Shark Tank," who has signed up for the “I Wish I Knew” national public education campaign.

The project is aimed at the 11 million U.S. family caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s who may have to deal with a specific part of the disease, namely the signs and symptoms of agitation. This can arise in patients and cause them anxiety and behavioral change, something that can also cause distress and worry to their caregivers as it can be aggressive, swift and severe.

Corcoran has a deeply personal connection with the disease, having cared for her mother Florence with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) for nine years before she passed in 2012. But while she was prepared for her mother’s memory loss from AD, she was not ready for the other behavioral symptoms. This includes restlessness or outbursts of anger that she experienced due to a separate condition: Alzheimer’s agitation.

“These changes felt heartbreaking for my siblings and me to watch because our mother had never been this way. She was a lovebug. We didn’t recognize the agitated, angry person she had become,” said Corcoran in a press release. “We didn’t know about a separate condition, called agitation in Alzheimer’s dementia when my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Since then, I’ve learned about 50% of people living with Alzheimer’s dementia are diagnosed with the condition. I wish I knew.”

Now, she’s spreading that message far and wide. The campaign aims to boost overall awareness of a condition many caregivers are unaware of by talking about the signs and symptoms of the condition, which Lundbeck and Otsuka say can include “screaming, emotional outbursts, biting, throwing things, repetitive mannerisms, wandering, and pacing/rocking.”

There’s also a focus on seeking extra help for caregivers and a new website designed to add resources that Corcoran fronts with videos, detailed explanations of the condition, questionnaires and the capacity to share your own stories.

There is no direct mention of drugs in the campaign but at the top of the new website, there is a button that takes viewers to a Rexulti drug page.

Rexulti, an antipsychotic that has licenses for major depressive disorder and schizophrenia last May nabbed a new license for agitation associated with dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease.

In 2023, Rexulti made 4.5 billion Danish kroner ($670 million) in revenue. SVB Securities analysts noted last year that the agitation indication could bring in peak sales of around $500 million on top of its other licenses.

This year, Lundbeck and Otsuka have also been ramping up their DTC work for the drug having twice been the top TV drug ad spender in 2024, according to the monthly round-up from real-time TV ad trackers iSpot.