Boehringer Ingelheim Launches New Site for TIA Sufferers

This week, Boehringer Ingelheim announced the launch of its new unbranded Web site for sufferers of transient ischemic attack (TIA) or mini-stroke. Talk About TIA (www.talkabouttia.com) is a text-driven, simple to navigate Web site that features everything from a symptoms checklist to a risk analysis. However, beneath the education information is an interactive Flash tool called a Symptoms Map that shows visitors the areas of the body TIA can affect. The user simply chooses a male or female figure and clicks on pulsating pain points to read about potential symptoms.

“We try to be very patient-friendly because we know that there are a lot of sufferers who are undiagnosed,” said Bill Mok, director of marketing for Aggrenox at BI. “We created the Symptoms Map to get the signs and symptoms out there.”

The site was established in tandem with the National Stroke Association to serve the 240,000 people diagnosed with TIA, according to Mok.

BI currently markets Aggrenox, an extended-release combination capsule (aspirin/dipyridamole), for stroke prevention after TIA, but chose to make the new site unbranded in order to reach more patients. The Aggrenox site is still active, and offers additional TIA information as well as risk indications.

BI currently has no plans to include a social networking component on Talk About TIA; however, the company is accepting testimonials from patients to be posted in the future.

Mok told Pharm Exec that BI will not purchase online keywords to promote the site, but is engaging in a traditional marketing campaign leveraging NSA’s network of physicians.

Boehringer was one of the 14 pharma firms slapped with FDA warning letters last week for improper online search advertising.