Takeda and Marvel extend IBD cartoon initiative

Takeda Pharmaceuticals has launched the next part of its cartoon-based disease awareness partnership with Marvel.

The pharma firm released the second chapter of its IBD Unmasked comic to coincide with last month’s World IBD Day.

The a first-of-its-kind global initiative features The Unbeatables, a team of IBD superheroes, and seeks to raise awareness of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Danny Stepto, director of global product and pipeline communications at Takeda, said: “As a company, we are proud to share the next chapter of IBD Unmasked on World IBD Day to highlight the bravery, strength and determination of the global IBD community.

“Through IBD Unmasked Takeda is focused on providing continued support to the IBD community and helping people living with the condition feel more confident in expressing themselves to their family and friends.”

The Unbeatables - consisting of five characters, some of which suffer with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis while the others take care of family members of patients with the condition.

The comic’s first chapter was created by Marvel in collaboration with a panel of people living with IBD from across the globe and premiered at London Comic Con in 2016.

The second chapter of the graphic comic book tells the story of two of the Unbeatables, Switchback who has the ability to be in two places at once while managing Crohn’s disease and Luminaria, a nurse from Singapore that can soothe her IBD patients with her superhuman powers.

The superhero concepts and illustration series were developed by Marvel Custom Solutions, Marvel's little known content marketing agency that has previously worked with Western Union, ESPN, Siemens and Visa (“the Guardians of the Galaxy help out with financial literacy”).

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