Zoey Becker

Quanovate Tech, which owns women’s hormonal health company Mira, agreed to permanently discontinue all marketing claims challenged by rival Procter & Gamble through the National Advertising Division. The specific claims were not disclosed, but they involved comparative, performance and superiority statements about Mira fertility monitors and test wands. The decision follows Mira’s recent appointment of Rumor Willis as global brand ambassador and launch of its “A Woman’s Maze” campaign. P&G’s Clearblue portfolio includes competing ovulation, pregnancy and menopause tests.

Verily and Bausch + Lomb have launched a collaboration using the Verily Me digital health app to provide personalized education about dry eye disease, including risk factors, symptoms and treatment options. The initiative responds to the condition’s prevalence and patients’ reported need for better information, while also addressing its effects on emotional wellbeing and quality of life. Dry eye is the partnership’s initial focus, with both companies indicating that the collaboration could expand to other eye conditions. Verily emphasizes AI-enabled personalization and patient-safety safeguards, while Bausch + Lomb views the partnership as its first major collaboration centered on a digital platform.

ViiV Healthcare has launched its “Do It For Future You” multichannel campaign to encourage people to discuss long-acting HIV prevention and treatment options with healthcare providers. The campaign uses a nostalgic video featuring diverse young adults and will expand into out-of-home advertising in priority markets including Atlanta and Los Angeles. ViiV is promoting Apretude, its twice-monthly injectable PrEP option, and Cabenuva, its injectable HIV treatment, amid continued unmet need: more than 39,000 annual U.S. HIV diagnoses, only about one-quarter of people eligible for PrEP receiving it, and nearly one-third of people living with HIV lacking viral suppression. The company hopes greater familiarity with injectable options will improve uptake and help reduce the HIV epidemic.

An Alcon survey of 1,000 U.S. parents of people aged 13 to 25 found that 27% had not arranged a comprehensive eye exam for their child within the past year or ever, while 88% believed vision could affect school performance, participation and confidence. The findings also linked vision difficulties with frustration, stress and low confidence, and showed that doctors’ recommendations were the strongest motivator for scheduling an exam. Alcon is using the results to promote its Precision back-to-school campaign and contact lenses, noting increased summer contact-lens exams among patients under 25 and continued efforts to market LASIK to younger audiences.

A Weber Shandwick and Reddit survey of 886 U.S. women and their partners finds that Reddit is becoming an important source of information and peer support for sensitive women’s health issues. Eighty-one percent of women surveyed said they were more comfortable discussing their bodies on Reddit than with family or friends, while many respondents used the platform to understand partners’ symptoms and prepare for healthcare conversations. The report links this trend to persistent gaps in female-specific medical research and highlights rapid growth in women-focused subreddits across different life stages. Experts say Reddit’s anonymous, intergenerational communities can help women identify concerns, distinguish normal from potentially serious symptoms and advocate for themselves with clinicians, although the platform is not a replacement for professional medical advice.

The California Supreme Court ruled 6-1 that drugmakers do not owe patients a duty of care to develop or commercialize an allegedly safer alternative more quickly when the existing medicine is not defective. The decision dismisses thousands of negligence claims against Gilead Sciences over the timing of its transition from TDF-based HIV medicines, including Viread and Truvada, to TAF-based products such as Biktarvy and Descovy. Plaintiffs argued that Gilead delayed TAF development to preserve sales of older drugs despite their potential bone and kidney risks, while Gilead and industry supporters warned that liability for development decisions could burden manufacturers and chill innovation. Justice Kelli Evans dissented, arguing that the ruling grants drugmakers sweeping immunity, but the majority said conventional legal claims against pharmaceutical companies remain available. Gilead called the ruling a victory for medical innovation as it moves toward newer HIV products including lenacapavir.

Amylyx Pharmaceuticals launched “Uncover PBH,” a patient education website focused on recognizing, diagnosing and managing post-bariatric hypoglycemia, a rare complication that can emerge one to three years after weight-loss surgery. The condition affects an estimated 160,000 people in the United States, can cause severe hypoglycemia and neurological complications, and has no approved drug treatments. The site uses symptom “clue” cards, patient stories, videos, FAQs and downloadable tools to help patients communicate with clinicians and families and reduce misdiagnosis, particularly during medical emergencies. The initiative precedes phase 3 results for Amylyx’s investigational GLP-1 antagonist avexitide, which the company hopes can become a treatment option. Amylyx co-CEOs Josh Cohen and Justin Klee said the effort reflects the company’s focus on diseases with significant unmet needs and the importance of building awareness alongside drug development.

The podcast examines major developments in biopharma, including a psychedelic-drug acquisition that could encourage further investment, controversy surrounding an FDA advisory committee’s review of peptide drugs, and Novo Nordisk’s lawsuit accusing Eli Lilly of false and misleading advertising for Zepbound and other GLP-1 products.

Shionogi has launched a U.S. consumer campaign for Xocova, its COVID-19 antiviral approved by the FDA in June as the country’s first oral post-exposure prophylaxis for adults and adolescents aged 12 and older. The “Got the Call, Make the Call” campaign features a national 90-second television advertisement urging people exposed to COVID-19 to contact their doctors and obtain the once-daily, five-day treatment within 72 hours. The ad highlights trial data showing a 67% reduction in symptomatic COVID-19 risk, while including prescribing information and side effects. The launch comes amid expectations of another summer COVID-19 wave and positions Xocova alongside vaccines and treatments such as Paxlovid and Lagevrio.

Amgen has partnered with MrBeast’s Beast Philanthropy, Stand Up to Cancer and St. Baldrick’s to launch the Pediatric Cancer Dream Team, a campaign combining awareness, fundraising and collaborative research. The initiative follows MrBeast’s video granting wishes to 100 children with cancer and includes a $6.5 million donation to support pediatric oncology research. Amgen says the collaboration will explain the importance of research to a broad and younger audience while advancing treatments such as Blincyto and addressing unmet needs in childhood cancer care.

Rare-disease-focused pharmaceutical marketing agency CG Life has acquired AI-native agency The Considered+AI to form an integrated commercialization partner for rare-disease and specialty-drug launches. The combined company plans to use generative AI to automate noncreative work, simulate audience reactions and improve the speed and effectiveness of marketing campaigns. The Considered founder David Hunt will remain CEO and join CG Life’s board, while financial terms were not disclosed. The deal follows CG Life’s earlier acquisition of Toolhouse and recent expansion of its executive team.

Gilead Sciences has launched its “Up to Date” HIV-prevention campaign, using humor, dating scenarios and culturally relevant language to encourage HIV testing and prevention conversations among Black communities, particularly Black women disproportionately affected by new infections. Featuring Nicole Byer and Devon Walker, the campaign will run across streaming platforms and television networks and directs audiences to Gilead’s Care for the Culture website. The effort reflects Gilead’s shift from science-focused messaging toward more direct, sex-positive and relatable communications, alongside its expanding HIV portfolio, which generated $20.8 billion in sales in 2025.

A survey of 36 U.S. gastroenterologists found that achieving and sustaining clinical remission remain major unmet needs in moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis, with 81% ranking remission among their top concerns and 56% citing remission durability. Physicians also reported strong patient demand for oral therapies, but identified JAK inhibitor boxed warnings for cardiovascular events and mortality as major barriers to wider use. Future oral IBD treatments will need biologic-comparable efficacy, durable disease control, improved patient outcomes, favorable safety, minimal monitoring, and convenient dosing. Emerging TYK2 and other oral therapies may offer alternatives, but current efficacy data have not yet surpassed the benchmark established by JAK inhibitors.

Novo Nordisk plans to seek a preliminary injunction on August 17 to stop Eli Lilly from running advertisements claiming that Zepbound produces significantly more weight loss than Wegovy and that Mounjaro lowers A1C more than Ozempic. Novo argues the campaigns rely on outdated trials that compared Lilly products with lower doses of Novo’s drugs and mislead consumers; Lilly maintains that the trials are the only direct head-to-head evidence and will vigorously oppose the motion. The dispute intensifies the companies’ competition in the GLP-1 market, where Lilly products have recently led Novo’s in sales.