After scoring a $1.3 billion deal selling Pfizer all of its rights to market Exubera inhaled insulin, Sanofi-Aventis probably laughed all the way to the bank when Pfizer pulled the ridiculously unprofitable diabetes drug from the market.

That’s why Sanofi’s latest ad campaign for injectable insulin has a timely “I told you so” quality to it. Some of that deal money appears to be well spent on these direct-to-consumer (DTC) pieces.

Sanofi’s Go Insulin campaign is a push for the French drugmaker’s injectable basal insulin Lantus. Although not the subject of this ad campaign, the pharmaceutical companies new FDA-approved Apidra fast-acting insulin may also get a boost from this ad series.

Two Type-2 diabetics tell their stories though video about how using injectable insulin has helped them control their diabetes using recommended Hemoglobin A1C targets as guidelines.

Greg, a 45-year-old delicatessen and real estate owner in Virginia describes how his initial treatment taking pills after being diagnosed with diabetes was not effectively helping him cope with the disease. He’s a husband and father with an attitude that shows he tries to tackle things.
Loretha Huff, a Chicago resident, describes how she dealt with managing her diabetes when she was diagnozed at age 35. Taking pills to manage her blood sugar was not effective, so she worked with her doctor to switch to Lantus injectable insulin.

She says that “injecting yourself wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be,” and expalins how her Hemoglobin A1C’s have come under better control. With a positive can-do attitude, Loretha’s story seems likely to strike a chord with folks who have concerns about taking insulin injections and eating right. Loretha’s positive, up-beat approach to managing her diabetes seems likely to help Sanofi with its sales of Lantus.

Significantly, Sanofi created special areas on it’s Go Insulin web site focusing on:

• The Importance of Insulin
• Insulin Myths and Realities

These explainer pieces argue that taking insulin doesn’t mean that you’ve failed at treating your diabetes, and that it’s just what you might need to do to control your Hemoglobin A1C levels.

Here is a rather cheeky concept for an Exubera ad from blogger John S.

This concept is not likely to ever be approved by Pfizer.