Roche’s Genentech unit is launching a new multimedia campaign aimed at sharing the stories of people living with diabetes and the disease’s impact on vision.
Helping launch the campaign is stand-up comedian, actor, producer and writer Damon Wayans, who has Type 2 diabetes and is seeking to bring both humor and awareness to the potential eye-related complications of the disease.
The campaign focuses on diabetic macular edema, or DME, a condition in which diabetes damages blood vessels in the macula, causing them to leak fluid and swell the retina, which can lead to vision loss. DME affects about 750,000 people in the U.S. and is a leading cause of vision loss among people with diabetes.
“Laughter is a powerful medicine,” Wayans said in an April 24 statement. “Of course, a few jokes can’t cure DME, but when we find humor in tough situations, it can be easier to engage in important conversations.
“As a Black man living with diabetes and a family history of related health conditions, I am very familiar with the hesitancy to open up about health. I also didn’t originally understand the risk of vision loss with diabetes, which is why I want to use this opportunity to break down those walls and create space for us to educate and learn from each other.”
Genentech said people of color “are two to three times more likely to develop significant vision conditions from diabetes, making it critical to address this urgent disparity.”
The campaign, created alongside advocacy group diaTribe, aims to tap the “power of humor” to reduce the stigma sometimes attached to vision issues.
Roche has been active in ophthalmology for decades, with more recent offerings including Susvimo, a continuously delivering implant, and Vabysmo, a longer-acting injection. Both have U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvals in DME.
Like a growing number of pharmaceutical companies, and Roche in particular, in recent weeks, Genentech is leaning into patient storytelling for the campaign, which will feature firsthand accounts from Wayans and others living with diabetes.
