The Israeli-based firm Peptor believed it had a hit on its hands with DiaPep277, an investigative drug that had shown in early testing to be potentially effective in halting
the progression of type I diabetes. Using this as a launching pad, Peptor executives hoped to raise the profile of their firm, and perhaps attract some investors among the major
global pharmaceutical companies.
In anticipation of an article on DiaPep277 that was to appear in the British-based medical journal The Lancet in late November 2001, Peptor turned to M Booth & Associates
for PR. The research company went with an American PR firm in an effort to draw the attention of potential investors, most of whom would be tied most closely to the U.S.
media.
The PR team did not have an overly promising place to start. After all, an unknown client, a product still in testing and an article in a British-based journal do not sound
like a recipe for success.
Still, the PR team saw lots of positives. "We looked at their clinical development program and their business milestones," says M Booth Vice President Dennis Tartaglia.
Moreover, "we thought the results were pretty dramatic."
M Booth surveyed the literature on similar kinds of drugs and related therapies. The PR team conducted interviews with patient groups, diabetes advocacy organizations and
competing pharmaceutical firms. Given the magnitude of the research, Tartaglia guessed there would be major media interest in the wake of the Lancet article, and so the first
order of business was to organize a rapid-response system among Peptor managers in Israel and Germany.
"This is a company that had not gotten this kind of publicity before, and we wanted to be sure that the key people would be available and willing to be interviewed when the
press wanted to talk to them," Tartaglia says. To that end, the PR team media-trained key executives, making clear to them the media's expectations and deadlines. All potential
interviewees forked over their home numbers and mobile numbers, plus home and work e-mail addresses.
With Peptor prepped, the PR team crafted a press release that was sent to editorial staff at The Lancet, under embargo, four days before the journal appeared. "We asked
ourselves: Which media have the most credibility? Which have the broadest reach?" Tartaglia recalls. So the press release initially went to science writers at AP and Reuters, then
to the biotech press and, finally, in an effort to reach potential biotech investors, to business publications.
Jumping hurdles
This was one of those cases where the client brings to the table some inherent shortcomings. For one thing, Peptor is based overseas, and was therefore largely unknown to
American reporters and editors. It's also a small company, and - perhaps worst of all - is privately-held. Business reporters typically shy away from coverage of private firms, on
the grounds that the activities of publicly-held companies will by definition affect a larger constituency.
PR executives overcame this by talking about the innovative processes whereby DiaPep277 was being developed. Moreover, they kept the focus on the "dramatic results" that had
been achieved in trials. With the possibility of a viable diabetes treatment in hand, "we were able to overcome a lot of the skepticism from people who didn't know the company and
didn't know the drug," Tartaglia says.
The media were not the only ones that were skeptical. Before moving forward with the PR effort, Tartaglia had to convince the client that reporters would not bite. "The company
really didn't have much experience in working with the media and what they did have was very negative. They were very media shy. The media in Israel is extremely critical, and
they felt they had been burned," he adds.
To assuage the client's concerns about the media, the PR team held weekly conference calls with the client and traded ongoing e-mails. "They helped me [by] focusing our story,"
says Dr. Joe Bender, CEO of Peptor's German division. "In the end, I felt that they were even more convinced of our product than we ourselves [although] the product itself of
course is and was the basis for an exciting story."
As a result, DiaPep won coverage on CNN, BBC and in the top 25 U.S. TV markets. The effort also netted placements in top U.S. and U.K. science and medical trade publications,
such as SCRIP, Science News, Diabetes, Interview, New Scientist and BioWorld. In all, the campaign resulted in some 2 billion impressions, which in turn generated calls from more
than 300 patients and 60 physicians looking for information on DiaPep277. What's more, four global pharmaceutical companies contacted Peptor to talk about licensing the drug, and
Peptor did eventually sign a licensing agreement with Aventis, based in Strasbourg, France.
M Booth & Associates: Fast Facts
Founded: 1985
HQ: New York City
Main clients: Pfizer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Unilever, American
Express, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Billings (2002): $5.8 million
Employees: 45
Campaign time frame: November 2001- January 2002
Budget: $52,000
URL: http://www.mbooth.com
The Reluctant Client
Pharmaceutical-research firm Peptor wanted media coverage for its work, but company executives were gun-shy about dealing with members of the press. M Booth Vice President
Dennis Tartaglia made it his mission to boost his client's media savvy:
- TRAINING: The PR team used face-to-face, phone and e-mail encounters to train the client on media expectations: What reporters were likely to need, and when; what
questions would come up and how they might be answered. - AVAILABILITY: Once it was clear who at Peptor would handle media calls, Tartaglia made sure those people could be reached by phone or e-mail on a moment's notice.
- FOCUS: Tartaglia worked with the scientific investigators at Peptor to ensure they had a sharp view of their story's significance. He lifted them above the scientific details
to help them focus on the Big Picture view likely to be embraced by the media. - BACKUP: Finally, the PR team made sure the Peptor executives would find their message backed up by relevant thought leaders, who were made available as media resources.
Campaign staff:
Joyce Yaeger, Senior Vice President, Raina Grossman, Senior Vice President, Dennis Tartaglia, Vice President, Dana Kopp, Account Supervisor, Kurt Rossler, Senior Account
Executive, Hooshna Amaria, Account Executive
Contacts: Dr. Joe Bender, [email protected]; Dennis Tartaglia, 212.481.7000 x626; [email protected]