Uloric maker Takeda and Men’s Health Network recruited a pair of racing world rivals to hype a gout awareness campaign, dubbed “Gout Pit Stop.”
The campaign, featuring pit crew chiefs Todd Berrier and Kevin “Bono” Manion and timed to coincide with Men’s Health Month and the start of the racing season, will have an online presence at GoutPitStop.com and Midway booths at the Daytona, Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte and Texas race weekends.
There, patients and their friends and family can enter a sweepstakes for a “Richard Petty Driving Experience,” the winner of which will get to ride in a race car on a track.
For every entry, Takeda will make a $1 donation to Men’s Health Network up to $25,000.
The campaign’s focus is on explaining the cause of the “Disease of Kings,” which many sufferers, like Manion, wrongly attribute to their own lifestyle choices.
“At Takeda, we are committed to helping patients understand gout and its underlying cause, which is hyperuricemia—or high levels of uric acid in the blood. Long-term management of uric acid levels is key,” said Robert Spanheimer, MD, vice president of medical and scientific affairs at Takeda. “Together with Men’s Health Network, we developed ‘Gout Pit Stop’ to help shed some light on this painful condition that often lives in the shadows so we can make a difference in the lives of those who are affected by gout.”
Takeda’s Uloric, indicated for chronic management of hyperuricemia in patients with gout, was launched in 2009. An estimated 8.3 million Americans suffer from the disease, which is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis in men.