Laurie Kelley

Name Game

Laurie Kelley January 15, 2023

Companies put a lot of money into “branding,” which is the process of creating a unique identity for a company or product. Branding involves using text, names, colors, and graphics to forge an emotional attachment to potential consumers. The goal is to get consumers to recognize a company or product, and have some positive association with it, to improve the chances of selling goods or services.

Pharmacy Times says “Naming a new prescription drug is a long and complex process, costing upwards of $2.25 million.”

Ouch!

Branding comes from the ancient rite of marking cattle, so that each cattle would be recognized as belonging to a herd and a particular owner. Each owner had their own symbol, scorched into the animal’s hide.

Read a great article about its origin here.

In the bleeding disorders community, it’s very important for different factor manufacturers to have strong brands, as so many products seem the same. And yet, they each need some recognizable name for their function. Our newest therapy is the gene therapy for hemophilia B called Hemgenix. That’s an easy name to decipher. Hem=blood. Gen=gene. IX=B (for hemophilia B).

Have you ever thought about what the other factor names mean?


Advate: “Advanced factor VIII (eight)”

BeneFIX: Bene means well, and FIX is factor IX.

NovoSeven: Novo means new, and Seven refers to factor VII.

Jivi: it’s not obvious it’s for factor VIII. Jivi is the Hindi word for “life.”

As for the others, I’m not sure. What are you guesses? Afstyla, Alprolix, Esperoct, Idelvion?

Jupiter

One suffix I encountered for company names and was curious about was “Rx.” We all know it’s used for prescriptions but why? Rx is used in some pharmacy company names like DiRx Pharmacy. I’m guessing is means direct treatment? And GoodRx is easy to figure out.

According to the book Who Put the Butter in Butterfly? “R” is the symbol of the Roman god Jupiter, the patron of medicines. Rx is also an abbreviation of “recipe,” from the Latin recipere, to receive. R appeared on top of all prescriptions, denoting “to take”: directions then followed. Even the English word recipe originally referred to medical prescriptions. Over time the word was also used for cooking–not unusual, as many of the same herbs and spices in cooking were being used in prescriptions at the time!

Flavored medicine has been around longer than we think!

I Love Ladybugs

Laurie Kelley January 8, 2023

I really do. I think they are the prettiest of bugs, and look so comical, with their bright red shells. In my household, we believe they bring good luck.

I also love LadyBugs, the national program designed for women with bleeding disorders. I remember years ago when it was just introduced, by such great women in our community who truly care. And nowadays it is operated by Comprehensive Health Education Services (CHES), and good friend Janet Brewer.

LadyBugs is beginning their Winter Webinars, starting with a fun opening session with our sponsors and a sneak peak at the SHEmophilia initiative. Topics will include:

  • January 26th, 7:30pm ET – Opening Night
  • February 23rd, 7:30pm ET – Bleeding Disorder Breakouts 
  • March 23rd, 7:30pm ET – Reproductive Health 
  • April 27th, 7:30pm ET – ReBalancing the Body with Diet with Medexus

Who’s invited to Register?

Any woman who has a bleeding disorder, carries a bleeding disorder or cares for a loved one with a bleeding disorder.

How to attend?

Join this session from your home as it will be hosted via Zoom.  If you just want to watch, that’s okay.  We love to see faces, but you can leave your camera off.  Registration is necessary so we can plan accordingly. 

You don’t want to miss these events! Register here.

Merry Christmas to all!

Laurie Kelley December 25, 2022

Christmas holiday banner with golden balls and spruce branches on dark background hannazasimova

Leadership… Start When They are Young!

Laurie Kelley December 18, 2022

I was invited last week to attend the National Hemophilia Foundation’s Youth Leadership Graduation. This was a Zoom event, and it was so nice to see Dawn Rotellini, Brendan Hayes from NHF, and all the beautiful young people who have completed the program.

Have you heard of it?  The NHF website states: NHF’s National Youth Leadership Institute (NYLI) provides young people (18-24 years old) in the bleeding disorders community with leadership opportunities to encourage personal growth, effect change, and positively influence others. The National Youth Leadership Institute is a two-year program designed to assist young people from the bleeding disorders community in becoming well-trained, recognized leaders. 

Each graduate gave a statement about what the program meant to them, and what they accomplished through it. It’s pretty amazing to hear these young people speak about how they gave back to their community, mentored others, traveled to attend events, and most impressively, advocated at the state level about healthcare costs and employment concerns.

To meet this year’s Youth Leaders, go here.

If you are interested or know someone who could benefit from this program, encourage them to apply.

I’ve been studying leadership for decades, and even wrote a book about it, for those in developing countries. If you are a leader in the making, you might like to read it too, because leadership transcends age and borders. Leaders are not born, but are made, forged even. And leaders are readers! Order here.

Congratulations to all the NYLI graduates!

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