Otsuka spotlights distressing agitation symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease with new campaign

About half of older people living with Alzheimer’s disease will develop agitation, manifested in ways such as verbal or physical aggression or restlessness. But it’s not always well known or talked about.

Otsuka, along with partner Lundbeck, wants to change that with a new campaign that shines a bright light on the realities of agitation in Alzheimer’s.

A TV commercial shows older hands clenched and pounding a table, and an older woman’s face twisted in anger and shouting. A young woman narrator says: “These hands used to hold me as a little girl … but now they’ve become aggressive. This mouth used to sing me lullabies. Now it’s unrecognizable.”

The unbranded commercial ends with an invitation to caregivers to learn more at AgitationinAlz.com. The link leads to the Rexulti website and a symptom questionnaire landing page.

Otsuka and Lundbeck’s co-developed and commercialized Rexulti (brexpiprazole) received the FDA’s go-ahead in May as the first drug approved to treat agitation in Alzheimer’s dementia. It was first approved in 2015 to treat schizophrenia and as an adjunct treatment for major depressive disorder.

Shin Sawada

“Most people don’t know about it. They assume that it’s an inevitable part of Alzheimer’s dementia, so they don’t realize it’s a treatable condition that maybe a doctor can do something about,” said Shin Sawada, Otsuka’s marketing lead for the agitation indication.

The campaign, which includes digital, social media and point of care in doctor’s offices, is based on insights from the caregivers it hopes to reach. Otsuka’s research and interviews included more than 900 caregivers, and Sawada said they “were struck by the silence” around the agitation their loved ones are experiencing.

“Sometimes caregivers feel embarrassed to talk about it, because again they don’t necessarily recognize it as a condition associated with Alzheimer’s dementia. So it’s might just seem like it’s my dad acting strange,” he said. “Hopefully by understanding this, it takes away the stigma to a certain extent.”

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