Abivax

A marketing protocol is usually in place when the drug enters the clinical trials phase. Although there are five phases to the process, companies consider some sort of marketing effort at about the second phase. At this juncture, marketing, particularly the congress booth, evolves. That initial exhibit is generally called a “disease state” exhibit. The goal of the disease state exhibit is to educate the audience about the nature of the disease the drug will ultimately treat.

Abivax, founded in Paris in 2013, is transforming into a commercial-stage company through opportunities to harness the novel mechanism of action of the lead product candidate, obefazimod.

The goal is to develop and commercialize obefazimod for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, particularly Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Specifically, they wanted to

1. Make the trial product (obefazimod) known to this specialty audience.
2. Market the company.
3. Get the Abivax name out to their market there while the trials progressed.

Personnel at Abivax had worked with Access at other companies and reached out to us to help them on their road to commercialization. The plan was to commercialize obefazimod in the US and the EMEA simultaneously.

A simple but effective plan evolved: use the same exhibit and graphics at all shows, no matter where. The two shows targeted in the US are The American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), and Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (AIBD). In Europe, Abivax focused on the United European Gastroenterology (UEG) and European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO).

Abivax uses an in-line exhibit for all shows—usually a 10×20 exhibit in the US and a 3mx6m overseas. The budget for any drug in development needs careful attention, and Abivax can trust this to the Access team.