Dive Brief:
- The Generic Pharmaceutical Association has rebranded to become the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM), covering both generics and biosimilars. The new name and accompanying national marketing campaign were announced Feb. 14 during the group’s annual meeting.
- Rebranding will allow AAM to “communicate its mission to make more medicines more accessible to more people who need them,” the organization said. Its accompanying campaign is titled "Keeping Medicines Within Reach."
- Among all the changes, the trade group will also have a new chairman. Jeff Watson, who heads Apotex's global generics business, will succeed Mylan's CEO Heather Bresch, who has been in the spotlight over the EpiPen pricing controversy.
Dive Insight:
In contrast to PhRMA’s new Go Boldly campaign launched in late January that sidestepped pricing concerns, AAM’s new campaign emphasizes generics' lower cost with an emphasis on families and budgets.
"Accessible medicine. It means enjoying life to the fullest, time for friends," the commercial says. "It means finding our dreams and feeding our families ... Together, we’re keeping medicines within reach.”
AAM also promotes the idea of collaboration and community through its tagline, "Your generics and biosimilars industry", which is displayed prominently on the group's new website. Along with the main ad, AAM also includes four videos highlighting patients' stories, which will be featured in broadcast and digital advertising as well as on social media.
Unsurprisingly, given the difference between branded and generic industries, AAM's messaging takes a very different approach than PhRMA's Go Boldly campaign. The new ads from the branded trade organization stress bold science, innovation and pharma researchers in lab coats — not hoodies a la Martin Shkreli.
AAM did not provide information on the costs of rebranding and the new marketing campaign. PhrMA has said it will spend tens of millions of dollars annually on its multi-year Go Boldly initiative.