Allergan Teams Up With Comedian Vanessa Bayer and OB/GYN Jessica Shepherd, M.D., M.B.A, to Debut the Know Your Birth Control Campaign

New campaign pairs humor and facts to tackle misinformation about birth control

News provided by

Aug 23, 2017, 08:30 ET

DUBLIN, Aug. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Allergan plc (NYSE:AGN), a leader in women's healthcare and the maker of Lo Loestrin Fe (norethindrone acetate and ethinyl estradiol tablets, ethinyl estradiol tablets and ferrous fumarate tablets), announced today the launch of the Know Your Birth Control^SM campaign with top comedic actress Vanessa Bayer and OB/GYN Jessica Shepherd, M.D., M.B.A. The digitally-led campaign aims to showcase the many misconceptions that exist around oral contraceptives while providing accurate information to educate women.

"We are committed to women's health and believe it is important to provide a resource about birth control in a fresh and approachable way to address the misinformation that still exists," said Jim Maffezzoli, Vice President, Women's Healthcare, Allergan. "Our goal is to encourage informed discussions between patients and their healthcare providers."

Premiering today, the campaign includes two video content series with ambassadors – Emmy-nominated Vanessa Bayer and women's health expert Dr. Jessica Shepherd. In one series, Ms. Bayer takes to the streets of New York City to have engaging dialogues with women about birth control, exposing misinformation. In the second series, Dr. Shepherd answers commonly asked questions about birth control and prepares women to approach similar conversations with their healthcare providers.

The campaign was developed with a dual goal in mind: to educate and entertain. Allergan will share the campaign's content through social media and popular digital platforms, giving women accurate information that they want to share with their network of friends.

"As a gynecologist, my goal is to ensure my patients have the facts around birth control so that they can make informed decisions," said Dr. Shepherd. "I'm pleased that through my partnership with Allergan and the Know Your Birth Control^SM campaign, I have this opportunity and platform to educate women nationwide. I want women to be empowered in their health and to help them have productive conversations with their doctors about this important healthcare decision."

For additional information about the Know Your Birth Control^SM campaign, including Dr. Shepherd's educational videos and Ms. Bayer's engaging conversations with women on the streets of New York about birth control, visit KnowYourBirthControl.com.

About Lo Loestrin Fe
Lo Loestrin Fe is a combined oral contraceptive used by women to prevent pregnancy. If you are moderately obese, discuss with your healthcare provider whether Lo Loestrin Fe is appropriate for you. Lo Loestrin Fe works primarily by suppressing ovulation, with other possible mechanisms including cervical mucus changes that inhibit sperm penetration and endometrial changes that reduce the likelihood of implantation. Lo Loestrin Fe is the only available ultra-low dose oral contracepive that contains 10 mcg of daily estrogen. In a clinical trial, women on Lo Loestrin Fe experienced short, lighter periods, with some women having a period that lasted less than 2 days per cycle on average. Lo Loestrin has been used by nearly 2.5MM women and is the #1-prescribed oral contraceptive by OB/GYNs.*

*IMS Health, Inc. Monthly New Rx by Specialty; December 2010-June 2017 (Claim derived from the use of information under license from IMS Health, Inc., which expressly reserves all rights, including rights of copying, distribution, and republication).

IMPORTANT RISK INFORMATION

WARNING TO WOMEN WHO SMOKE

Do not use Lo Loestrin Fe if you smoke cigarettes and are over 35 years old. Smoking increases your risk of serious cardiovascular side effects (heart and blood vessel problems) from birth control pills, including death from heart attack, blood clots, or stroke. This risk increases with age and the number of cigarettes you smoke.

Who should not take Lo Loestrin Fe?
Do not use Lo Loestrin Fe if you have or have had blood clots, history of heart attack or stroke, high blood pressure that medicine cannot control, breast cancer or any cancer that is sensitive to female hormones, liver disease or liver tumors, unexplained bleeding from the vagina, if you are or may be pregnant, or if you take Hepatitis C drugs containing ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir, with or without dasabuvir, as this may increase levels of liver enzymes in the blood.

What else should I know about taking Lo Loestrin Fe?
Treatment with Lo Loestrin Fe should be stopped if you have a blood clot, and at least 4 weeks before and through 2 weeks after major surgery. You should not take Lo Loestrin Fe any earlier than 4 weeks after having a baby, or if you are breastfeeding. If you experience yellowing of the skin or eyes due to problems with your liver, you should stop taking Lo Loestrin Fe. If you are pre-diabetic or diabetic, your doctor should monitor you while using Lo Loestrin Fe. Your doctor should evaluate you if you have any significant change in headaches or irregular menstrual bleeding.

What are the most serious risks of taking Lo Loestrin Fe?
Lo Loestrin Fe increases the risk of serious conditions including blood clots, stroke, and heart attack. These can be life-threatening or lead to permanent disability.

What are the possible side effects of Lo Loestrin Fe?
The most common side effects reported by women taking Lo Loestrin Fe in a study were nausea/vomiting, headache, spotting or bleeding between menstrual periods, painful menstruation, weight change, breast tenderness, acne, abdominal pain, anxiety, and depression.

Birth control pills do not protect you against any sexually transmitted disease, including HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Please see full Prescribing Information, including Boxed Warning, for Lo Loestrin Fe: http://www.allergan.com/assets/pdf/loloestrin_pi.pdf

About Allergan's Women's Healthcare
Allergan is a leader in women's healthcare that is dedicated to developing and commercializing best-in-class pharmaceuticals to improve the health and wellness of women. Allergan takes a holistic and a best-in-class approach to women's healthcare as it prioritizes educational partnerships with OB/GYNs. The mission of Allergan Women's HealthCare extends beyond its pharmaceutical products to ensure that all women can make informed decisions about their health and have access to high-quality medications. Allergan is committed to investing in programs that support the education and well-being of all women.

About Allergan plc
Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a bold, global pharmaceutical company and a leader in a new industry model – Growth Pharma. Allergan is focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing branded pharmaceutical, device, biologic, surgical and regenerative medicine products for patients around the world.

Allergan markets a portfolio of leading brands and best-in-class products for the central nervous system, eye care, medical aesthetics and dermatology, gastroenterology, women's health, urology and anti-infective therapeutic categories.

Allergan is an industry leader in Open Science, a model of research and development, which defines our approach to identifying and developing game-changing ideas and innovation for better patient care. With this approach, Allergan has built one of the broadest development pipelines in the pharmaceutical industry with 70+ mid-to-late stage pipeline programs currently in development.

Allergan's success is powered by our more than 18,000 global colleagues' commitment to being Bold for Life. Together, we build bridges, power ideas, act fast and drive results for our customers and patients around the world by always doing what is right.

With commercial operations in approximately 100 countries, Allergan is committed to working with physicians, healthcare providers and patients to deliver innovative and meaningful treatments that help people around the world live longer, healthier lives every day.

For more information, visit Allergan's website at www.Allergan.com.

Forward-Looking Statement
Statements contained in this press release that refer to future events or other non-historical facts are forward-looking statements that reflect Allergan's current perspective on existing trends and information as of the date of this release. Actual results may differ materially from Allergan's current expectations depending upon a number of factors affecting Allergan's business. These factors include, among others, the difficulty of predicting the timing or outcome of FDA approvals or actions, if any; the impact of competitive products and pricing; market acceptance of and continued demand for Allergan's products; difficulties or delays in manufacturing; and other risks and uncertainties detailed in Allergan's periodic public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to Allergan's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and Allergan's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2017. Except as expressly required by law, Allergan disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.