Migraine drug maker Biohaven Pharmaceuticals has added another celebrity pitchwoman to its marketing arsenal.
The New Haven-based company has hired former Beverly Hills 90210 star Tori Spelling to promote its newly approved migraine drug Nurtec ODT.
The actress, singer and mother of five has a sizable social media following and attracted a new generation of fans in 2019 during her stint as “the unicorn” on Fox’s hit television show The Masked Singer.
Spelling gave Biohaven-sponsored interviews to some local Fox affiliates last week and in October promoted Nurtec to her more than 1.2 million followers on Facebook.
A Biohaven spokesperson said in an email that Spelling came to Biohaven’s attention due to her ongoing issues with migraine.
“Tori is extremely enthusiastic about her experience with Nurtec ODT, calling it a ‘game-changer’ for her,” the spokesperson said. “Patients have really responded to Tori’s message, and the company will be partnering with her moving forward.”
Spelling’s sponsorship is one of several high-profile marketing moves Biohaven has made since it went to market with the orally-dissolving pill, which won Food and Drug Administration approval in February.
In July, the company hired reality TV star Khloe Kardashian, a longtime migraine sufferer, to lead its Take Back Today marketing campaign for the drug. (A month later, Biohaven’s biggest competitor, pharma giant AbbVie, nabbed tennis star Serena Williams to pitch its new and similarly acting migraine drug, Ubrelvy.)
Two weeks ago, Biohaven announced it was sponsoring a car and racing team for the 2021 NASCAR racing season. It has also aired commercials for the new drug during primetime television shows.
Spelling, in a sponsored interview last week with a Fox affiliate in Washington, D.C., said she has been suffering from migraines for more than 25 years. The first one hit in her early 20s while she was filming on the set of 90210.
“I can still remember the moment because it negatively changed my path, my journey, forever,” she said.
Spelling said she couldn’t find relief from her headaches despite seeing multiple doctors and trying numerous medications and natural remedies that didn’t work.
She said she began using Nurtec ODT around six months ago and now fully recovers from an attack within an hour of taking it, “which I thought was impossible.”
Biohaven has not disclosed how much it is paying Kardashian or Spelling or what it is spending on the marketing campaign.
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In other Biohaven news, prominent medical journal The Lancet published data on Tuesday showing positive results in a trial of Biohaven’s migraine drug as a preventative therapy.
Biohaven released partial data from the Phase 2-3 trial last March.
The study found roughly half the patients treated with rimegepant (sold as an acute migraine treatment under the brand name Nurtec ODT) experienced at least a 50% reduction in moderate-to-severe migraine days.
On average, patients taking the 75 mgs of the drug every other day had 4.3 fewer headache days per month, according to the study. The drug outperformed a placebo.
Read the full study HERE.
The drug is part of a new class of migraine drugs known as CGRP (calcitonin gene-related peptide) antagonists.
Biohaven said it is currently the only CGRP-targeting medication to both prevent a migraine and treat an attack in progress.
The company is hoping that offering Nurtec ODT as a ‘dual acting’ medicine will help it stand out in the crowded migraine treatment market.
Biohaven is seeking FDA approval to market the drug as a preventative therapy. A decision is expected during the second quarter of 2021.
Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz