Putting science at work for the health of patients
How NPS Pharma forged closer bonds with those with the largest stake in their success
Nancy has been suffering from hypoparathyroidism for nearly ten years, putting her at risk for calcification of her brain and heart, as well as for kidney failure. Nancy belongs to a fairly small community with only 60,000 people in the United States with hypoparathyroidism. There are no therapies or cures offered by pharmaceutical companies because the size of the afflicted population is so limited.
Enter NPS Pharmaceuticals
NPS Pharmaceuticals is not your average big pharma. Dedicated to the innovation and development of therapies that transform the lives of patients with rare diseases, the company has a distinct focus on populations not addressed by any other pharmaceutical company.
Patients first
In 2013, NPS introduced Gattex. This orphan drug to treat short bowel syndrome was the company’s first commercial endeavor. NPS is also working closely with people, like Nancy, who suffer from hypoparathyroidism with the hope of introducing a second therapy to treat that affliction.
With this product launch, NPS set out to turn the typical pharmaceutical model on its head, shifting its primary focus away from the medical community to the patients themselves. To reinforce this patient connection, NPS also built a support network to provide customized care to patients. This dedicated network helps patients locate, initiate and manage NPS therapies.
NPS reached out to Tenet Partners to communicate its mission through a compelling visual and verbal identity. Through interviews with various groups of stakeholders, as well as a competitive audit, Tenet confirmed that NPS’ primary focus on patients was indeed unique.
Our research further uncovered a remarkable emphasis on scientific rigor and innovation. Together with its approach to patient care, this earned NPS the right to stake its position at the intersection of science and humanity.
Giving meaning to a name and a brand
Such a bold approach required the right brand representation, one firmly anchored in four key attributes: transparency, humanity, connections and focus. Together, NPS and Tenet worked to develop a voice that rang true and a face that reflected the mission of the company and its evolving business strategy.
Tenet created a simple, yet compelling tagline: The Nexus of Patients and Science. This tagline speaks not only to the human patient connection, but also to the compelling science that underlies those relationships. Additionally, it offers meaning to the NPS name.
Tenet’s design team worked seamlessly with our strategists to make sure that the visual identity supported the strategy. The goal was to create a visual expression that emphasized patients’ radical transitions from sick to well and most importantly, the ability to get back to living. Using a calming blue hue, a gradient as a symbol for transition and people portraits, the NPS visual system became a compelling story, cementing the company’s commitment to putting patients first.
Extending the new brand to the digital space
Stepping up to this commitment also meant re-engineering the website. Where before the site was aimed at the medical community, the Tenet team of digital specialists worked at developing a site that would speak to patients first. Our primary focus was to create a vehicle that delivers the information patients need in a way that is easy to access and share.
Today, NPS’s website highlights those whose lives are improved by the work the company carries out. It also communicates the unflagging sense of urgency that drives NPS to continue pioneering and delivering, worldwide, innovative therapies that transform the lives of those suffering from rare diseases.
