Genitope Corporation
Fueling growth through brand awareness, IPO support and clinical trial recruitment

Genitope Corporation is a young, privately held biotechnology company with a highly specialized product candidate for a very specific type of cancer – follicular, B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In late stage clinical trials for MyVax® Personalized Immunotherapy and preparing for an IPO, the company was faced with limited corporate infrastructure; no product brand name or image; limited experience utilizing public relations and marketing in a pre-approval period; and poor enrollment in the Phase III trials, which was significantly increasing expenditures and depleting resources. Dorland was challenged with developing a corporate and brand identity and message platform for a product with enormous promise, in a category with signficant misperceptions. The agency also was charged with increasing awareness and understanding of the personalized immunotherapy category and driving patient accrual in the clinical trial.

Dorland implemented a brand development process to develop a clear and concise brand platform. Key messages and media materials were developed that told a powerful and impactful corporate and product story. The agency created and executed a comprehensive, flexible media outreach strategy that could be easily adapted across clinical trial sites and that leveraged high profile investigators to garner local and national media coverage. And, Dorland developed an initial public offering (IPO) media outreach strategy that effectively positioned the company and generated substantial media interest and impressions.

The results helped put a spotlight on a small biotechnology company with a marked increase in company and brand awareness with more than 150 million media impressions. The IPO media drove investment and funding to fuel growth for the company and was noted as the most successful IPO in 2004. Clinical trial PR helped power the pivotol trials that would bring its products out of the pipeline and into the hands of doctors and patients in need. The program delivered a three-fold increase in clinical trial recruitment with an average PR cost-per-patient enrolled of less than $500.