Pharma company Shire has enlisted multi-Grand Slam winning tennis star Monica Seles to support its campaign to raise awareness of binge eating disorder in adults in the US.
Shire and Seles will work with charities the Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA) and the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) to motivate adults with symptoms of binge eating disorder to learn more about the condition and talk to a healthcare professional.
Seles recently admitted to experiencing binge eating disorder when she was a professional tennis player in the 1990s.
“There is a misconception that adults with binge eating disorder fit a certain profile,” said Seles. “I felt ashamed about my binge eating for so long, and my hope is that hearing the stories of people like me, and having information about the disorder more publicly available, may help inspire other adults to get the support they need.”
Binge eating disorder is one of the most common mental health conditions in the US, affecting around 2.8 million adults in the US. It is characterised by regularly eating far more food than most people would eat in a similar time period, with binges taking place on at least a weekly basis for three months.
As part of the campaign the partners have created the website www.bingeeatingdisorder.com, which features further details of Seles’ story as well as information about the condition, such as symptoms, potential causes and tips for how to raise the topic with loved ones and healthcare providers.
Shire recently won the first approval in the US for a medicine to help people with binge eating disorder with FDA backing for Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine dimesylate).
The new indication for the drug, which is already used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), is expected to boost sales by around $500m a year.
Vyvanse’s efficacy in the treatment of binge eating was shown in two clinical trials that included 724 adults with moderate-to-severe symptoms of the disorder, according to the FDA.
In the studies, participants taking Vyvanse experienced a decrease in the number of binge eating days per week and had fewer obsessive-compulsive binge eating behaviours compared to those on placebo.