Gold
CSL Behring and Salutem
Portraits of Progress
To many, hemophilia is little more than a memory from ninth-grade biology or a few tales of the Russian royal family. Most people never meet someone with hemophilia, which affects just 30,000 people in the U.S. And even fewer encounter one of the 6,000 people with hemophilia B, the rarest form of the disease.
That means few people understand how much progress has been made on an illness that was a virtual death sentence until the last half of the twentieth century. CSL Behring, furthering hemophilia treatments for almost 40 years, wanted to change that, especially with the FDA’s 2020 approval of the first-and-only gene therapy for hemophilia B.
To demystify gene therapy, the pharma company wanted to humanize stories behind this innovative science and inspire those with the condition to take a significant (if scary) step towards a better future.
Portraits of Progress brings those ambitions to life, drawing on the tradition of art documenting science. And it mainly focuses on older patients whose voices and journeys have faded into the background, underscoring the decades of progress. Shot by the photographer Rankin, the portraits dramatically show the past, present and future of life with hemophilia, sparking conversation about gene therapy and breakthroughs yet to come.
A pop-up exhibition in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood introduced these people to the public, generating essential conversations about the disease and gene therapy. The National Hemophilia Foundation wrote about it, and the exhibit was among the most visited booth at its convention. Coverage in publications such as Forbes contributed to more than 145 million impressions.
Silver
Genentech and Syneos Health Communications
SMA My Way: Double Take
Disabled people have long felt invisible to the fashion world. Genentech and the spinal muscular atrophy community changed all that with an adaptive-fashion show at New York Fashion Week. Explainer videos on social media grabbed the fashion industry’s attention, drawing a standing-room-only audience to watch models with SMA strut and roll the runway. The event sparked over 140 earned media stories.
