Case study
Turning a Clinical Milestone Into Market Consensus in 90 Days
12+
Media mentions secured
#1
Viral Post on their most important Reddit Community
US$4.6M
Series A financing 60 days after first campaign
The challenge
Dr. Nikki Johnston dedicated her life to helping solve a stomach condition that can disrupt voice, breathing, sleep, and daily life. Today, over 80 million Americans live with GERD or LPR, with most of them on a drug class that fails the majority of patients because it targets acid, not pepsin, the enzyme actually responsible for throat tissue damage.
Franco Vigile was suffering from this condition himself when he found Dr. Johnston's research and, having a past biotech exit, partnered with her to help commercialise a treatment. Dr. Johnston discovered the mechanism and repurposed an HIV drug (fosamprenavir) to treat this condition after many years in her laboratory in Wisconsin.
The science was ready. The story wasn't. Ahead of Phase 2, N-Zyme needed credible media that would put the pepsin thesis in front of their industry and help accelerate their Series A funding round. That was the challenge Storyline Pros was hired to solve.
The strategy
Storyline Pros built the work as a brand-visibility system designed for a clinical-stage company that needed a public record physicians and investors could trust. Four strategic choices shaped the campaign.
Lead with a medically fenced narrative.
Before any pitch went out, Storyline Pros wrote the storyline and media kit around the pepsin thesis, Franco's patient-to-founder path, and Dr. Johnston's research at the Medical College of Wisconsin. The framing stayed scientific and human. No efficacy claims. The goal was coverage that would hold up under clinical and investor scrutiny.
Put the story in front of the right journalists.
Outreach focused on editors who already cover clinical biotech and hard-to-treat diseases. That targeting produced the long-form founder and scientist interviews and biotech industry-specific coverage that their investors, patients and partners read.
Pair earned coverage with finance-platform reach.
Alongside newsroom pitching, Storyline Pros placed the story on platforms investors already read, including Business Insider, Yahoo Finance, Morningstar and MarketWatch through distribution and syndication, and stacked those mentions with earned and institutional features.
Get the story out to the patients
Storyline Pros published the stories in that largest patient community. One post went viral, showcasing the unmet need and demand for the drug.
The results
The media wave did what the trial needed: it made the pepsin story public, then measurable.
Coverage landed across biotech-focused outlets and financial media. We secured long-form interviews of both founders that carried both the patient story and the science. Our Reddit efforts led to a viral post in their most important subreddit, reaching the patient community and showcasing the real demand for the new drug.
After the campaigns, inbound investor interest picked up. The public record around Phase 2 gave N-Zyme something concrete to point to in fundraising conversations, and that momentum carried into a US$4.6M Series A close roughly 90 days into the engagement.
Patients responded the same way. People living with hard-to-treat reflux found the coverage, reached out, and asked to join the study, with more than 500 wanting to take part.
CEO Review
“The first campaign was clearly a success, establishing a foundation for future media coverage. What stood out most was their ability to understand the science behind our clinical program. Storyline Pros generated meaningful media exposure, helping us increase awareness of our drug and clinical program. The team managed the project professionally and efficiently. They were responsive, communicative, and attentive to our needs.”
Growth summary
In under 90 days, Storyline Pros turned a Phase 2 clinical trial launch into a public story the industry could not ignore: biotech and financial coverage, founder interviews that carried both science and the patient path, and a viral Reddit post that proved real patient demand.
That wave brought inbound investor interest and more than 500 patients asking to join the study. N-Zyme closed a US$4.6M Series A on the back of it.
Media built the credibility. Credibility helped close the round. That is the growth story.