Sales Force

Meetings offer reps a shot at 'no-see' docs: survey

Marc Iskowitz September 02, 2010

While the number of physicians open to pharmaceutical sales calls is shrinking, a new survey suggests some venues are more hospitable to industry than others.
 

Co-promotion deal gone bad: Cypress hands Savella over to Forest

Ben Comer August 05, 2010

California-based Cypress Bioscience ended its co-promotion agreement with Forest Laboratories on Savella (milnacipran), a fibromyalgia drug approved in January 2009. As a result, Cypress will cut 123 jobs.
 

GSK restructures bonuses for sales reps

Ben Comer July 29, 2010

Beginning in 2011, GlaxoSmithKline will reward its sales reps for the relationships they forge with doctors, instead of the amount of drugs they sell.
 

Primary care docs prefer rep-delivered samples, says study

Ben Comer July 27, 2010

Despite busier schedules and less time for a detail, most primary care physicians prefer to receive samples directly from a sales rep, in person, according to a DTW Marketing Research study.
 

Watson beefs up women's health biz, adds reps

Ben Comer July 13, 2010

Generics and specialty pharma Watson acquired a progesterone gel, marketed as Crinone and Prochieve, and added roughly 19 reps to its women's health sales force. Watson now employs close to 400 reps, according to Charlie Mayr, a company spokesperson.
 

PhRMA sweats Witty's EU samples cap

Ben Comer July 09, 2010

PhRMA said the reasoning behind a sharp cap on samples mandated by its European counterpart doesn't apply in the US.
 

Amgen deploys up to 1,000 reps on Prolia approval

Ben Comer June 03, 2010

Amgen has deployed "500 to 1,000" reps in support of Prolia (denosumab), a biologic osteoporosis treatment that received FDA approval on June 1. The drug was approved in the European Union on May 28.
 

Covidien launches two pain drugs with fresh sales forces

Ben Comer April 27, 2010

Covidien announced the launch of two branded pain drugs -- Exalgo and Pennsaid -- and hired around 250 reps to support the products. Professional ads are in the works for May.
 

Pfizer, Impax switch co-promotion duties from Pristiq to Lyrica

Ben Comer April 16, 2010

Impax Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer rejiggered their co-promotion agreement on Pristiq by swapping it out for Lyrica. Impax sales forces worked on Pristiq beginning in July of 2009 after signing a three-year agreement with Wyeth, now part of Pfizer. Impax reps will now promote Lyrica instead.
 

Sanofi layoffs cut total US sales forces to 5,700

Ben Comer April 09, 2010

Sanofi-Aventis laid off 400 sales reps last Monday, as part of a strategy to focus on key therapeutic areas moving forward. Total Sanofi sales forces in the US number 5,700 as a result of the cuts.
 

Abbott cuts sales reps amid "shifting resources"

Ben Comer April 01, 2010

Abbott laid off approximately 175 sales reps in the US, Dow Jones reported yesterday.
 

Access to docs flat, but appointments on the rise, survey says

Ben Comer March 15, 2010

Ninety-eight percent of the doctors surveyed in an SK&A study said up to 20 sales reps visit their practices each week, while total access to docs during 2009 increased by a fraction.
 

Covidien, Biovail to beef up sales forces

Ben Comer March 11, 2010

While many sales jobs at large pharmaceutical companies continue to be shed amidst reorganizations, mergers and consolidations, Covidien and Biovail are bucking the trend and hiring new personnel.
 

Healthy Advice to mount flat screens in doc's offices

Ben Comer February 08, 2010

Healthy Advice Networks is betting docs need one more video screen to look at during office hours.
 

Novo reps to spotlight weight loss for Victoza launch

Ben Comer February 04, 2010

Sales forces for Novo Nordisk's Victoza will underscore the injectable's weight loss properties when it launches next month.
 

UCB exits US primary care

Matthew Arnold February 01, 2010

UCB is getting out of the US primary care market by the end of the month to focus on its specialty immunology and neurology franchises.
 

Novartis held the line on sales and marketing spend in 2009

Matthew Arnold January 26, 2010

Novartis' US sales reorg seems to have paid off in 2009 as the company held the line on sales and marketing expenses despite a passel of global launches.
 

Ax falls at Merck as CEO talks sales cuts

Marc Iskowitz January 07, 2010

Eight weeks after the completion of Merck's merger with Schering-Plough, the new company is making staff cuts while hinting of more in commercial and manufacturing areas.
 

Sanofi-Aventis sales cuts come due

Marc Iskowitz December 01, 2009

Sanofi-Aventis is laying off 750, or nearly 12%, of its US sales reps, as the firm retrenches in the face of generic exposure on some of its lead products.
 

GSK relocates 2,200 sales positions as part of 'growth strategy'

Marc Iskowitz October 29, 2009

GlaxoSmithKline has put a twist on pharma's strategy of slashing sales reps to improve the earnings outlook, reallocating the positions to emerging markets.
 

Shire prepares marketing efforts for Intuniv

Ben Comer September 04, 2009

Shire announced an FDA approval for Intuniv (guanfacine) Extended Release Tablets yesterday, and is preparing professional advertising efforts for a November launch, with "closely aligned" consumer ads to follow in 2010.
 

Schering-Plough gears up for Saphris launch

Ben Comer August 14, 2009

Schering-Plough announced FDA approval on a key pipeline antipsychotic today, and is developing marketing materials and building a US sales force for the Q4 launch.
 

Lilly revamps sales model for smaller territories

Matthew Arnold August 04, 2009

Eli Lilly & Co. will eliminate around 300 positions in its US diabetes, neuroscience and osteoporosis sales forces as it implements a new sales model featuring smaller territories, each manned by a rep with deep therapeutic expertise.
 

Zogenix and Astellas to co-promote migraine injectable

Ben Comer August 03, 2009

California-based Zogenix announced a partnership with Astellas to co-promote Sumavel DosePro, a subcutaneous injection for migraine relief.
 

IMS Health restructuring after dismal Q2

Ben Comer July 24, 2009

IMS Health announced a streamlining of business operations in the wake of second quarter losses, which may include as many as 850 job losses.
 

Only a tenth of scripts are up for grabs, says IMS study

Matthew Arnold June 09, 2009

Traditional promotion efforts, including details and sampling, can only affect about 10% of prescriptions, an IMS study found, suggesting that the bulk of promotion dollars is misplaced.
 

Abbott, AZ extend co-promotion to Trilipix

Ben Comer June 04, 2009

AstraZeneca will help Abbott reach more physicians with its Trilipix (fenofibric acid) drug, a cholesterol product approved by FDA last December. The companies also filed an NDA for Certriad, a Trilipix/Crestor combination drug.
 

Amylin slashes sales force by 35%

Matthew Arnold May 05, 2009

Amylin is cutting 200 sales positions -- around 35% of its sales force -- as it merges its specialty and primary care sales forces into a single organization targeting endocrinologists and diabetes-focused primary care physicians.
 

IOM: quit gifts, reps, samples

Matthew Arnold April 28, 2009

Physicians and medical institutions should shun gifts, reps, samples and ghostwriting, said the Institute of Medicine's conflict of interest committee in its full recommendations.
 

J&J to eliminate 900 sales-related positions

Ben Comer April 10, 2009

Johnson & Johnson will cut 900 positions at its Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit by the end of the second quarter.
 

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