Baxter Healthcare (at the time) made a formulation change to Aralast®, their well-established augmentation therapy for adults with emphysema. FDA informed Baxter unexpectedly that their reformulation required a brand new name. This abrupt demand not only jeopardized the Aralast brand equity and threatened costly launch delays, it also forced the Aralast team to drop all activities and focus on saving the brand.

Baxter engaged Gary Martin Group to help, and we got to work immediately. After a situation analysis and regulatory consult, the solution proposed was to create a new proprietary name modifier (or “suffix”)––instead of a whole new name––that expressed the new formulation and that met the strict regulatory safety and promotional requirements. Hundreds of modifiers were quickly created, prescreened and presented, and ten “finalist” modifiers were selected for comprehensive name testing.

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Based on our legal availability screening, linguistic analysis, and name safety evaluations, we recommended Aralast NP. Aralast NP was submitted to the FDA in record time and approved. The /NP/ modifier identifies the Aralast “New Paste” formulation. /NP/ also suggests an advanced “novel product” and “new protein.” Given all the disruption, the distinctive Aralast brand equity was preserved, and Aralast NP was launched on time.