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Where It Counts The Most |
| Focusing on Key Segments With RPR’s Strategic Products
The US Sales Organization, which increased its net sales by 7% over last year and saw its Hospital Sales Force chosen #1 in the country, has also chosen to realign itself. Why? “Because, despite an increase in sales over previous years, we were behind our expectations for 1997 - and we need to get better at what we do,” says John Leone, SVP and General Manager, Pharmaceutical Corp (Pharmaceutical Corp Pharmaceuticals) .
"We’re using our best resource–our 1,100 talented and dedicated sales representatives–to bring our most strategic products to the Company’s most important customers,” Leone continues. He adds, “We also made our marketing strategy more consistent and focused than it had been before.”
Pharmaceutical Corp’s goals are a clear expression of Pharmaceutical Corp's strategic objectives for 1998. These are: first, to sell more; secondly, to innovate; third, to make more money; and fourth, to build on our people.
The realigned sales organization aims to grow the US business by 9% and increase sales in 1998 to $1.1 billion. It will accomplish this by simplifying its structure and focusing four, targeted sales forces on key customer segments. It will emphasize products that are most strategic to the US market, and build on the skills and competencies necessary to do this by intensive training and development efforts.
More Firepower Being Dedicated To Defending Asthma Market Share
Pharmaceutical Corp’s Primary Care Sales Force will call on community-based physicians, and will be made up of two groups. Each has a vital mission to perform.
The Core Therapeutics group is concentrating on defending RPR’s share of the US Asthma market, which felt the effects of heavy competition last year. “Though we had the will to succeed, we didn’t have the product line extensions we needed to hold our share of the market,” says John Leone. With anticipated line extensions like Azmacort Forte and Nasacort HFA, Pharmaceutical Corp will have the stronger product portfolio it needs to face continued strong competition. And with a sales force increased to 530 people as a result of the realignment, it will have the firepower, too.
New Effort Will Spearhead RPR’s Entry Into Women’s Healthcare
A separate group within the Primary Care Sales Force will serve as the focal point for RPR’s launch into the Women’s Health arena – as new HRT products, like the CombiPatch, are brought on line later in 1998.
Consisting of 200 representatives, the Primary Therapeutics group will spend a large part of this year in pre-launch activities, thoroughly learning the HRT market and identifying opinion leaders in the OB/GYN field. During this time, it will also concentrate on the Children’s Health Market – calling on Pediatricians and placing its primary product focus on DDAVP, Nasacort AQ and Intal.
Separate Sales Force Supports New Indications For Lovenox
Increasing its number by 50, to 250 sales representatives, Pharmaceutical Corp’s Advanced Therapeutics Sales Force is being positioned to capitalize on the anticipated new cardiovascular indications for Lovenox/Clexane.
Once approval is granted by the FDA, Lovenox– the name under which the drug is marketed in the US–will be the first low-molecular-weight heparin cleared for treatment of unstable angina. Approval has already been obtained in France, Denmark and the United Kingdom.
Lovenox/Clexane is the leading low-molecular-weight heparin globally, approved in 50 countries.
Pharmaceutical Corp has set as a goal for 1998 increasing Lovenox sales by 31% to $283 million.
With its additionial sales representatives, Pharmaceutical Corp will be able to increase the frequency of visits to hospital accounts and broaden the number of specialists its people are able to call on.
New Infectious Disease Sales Force Readies For Synercid Approval
Pharmaceutical Corp is moving proactively and quickly to recruit a new sales force of 70 thoroughly experienced antibiotic sales professionals who will support Synercid, the Company’s groundbreaking new antibiotic. Further action from the FDA on this highly innovative drug is expected in the near future, based on the February 19 positive recommendation of the FDA's Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Panel Committee, for its use in complicated skin and skin-structure infections, hospital-acquired pneumonia and VREF - vancomycin-resistant infections.
The high-powered sales force will target the top 1,200 hospital accounts where extremely serious infections are prevalent. It will call on hospital-based Infectious Disease specialists, critical care and ICU health care professionals and Oncologists.
Oncology Sales Force Will Continue Taxotere Push
The realignment announced in January will not affect the current Oncology Sales Force, which consists of 90 sales representatives and field specialists, who have worked hard to establish the market credibility of our cancer-fighting drugs such as Taxotere, Oncaspar and Gliadel.
“Our Oncology group has done a wonderful job, and we’re not going to change this formula for success,” said John Leone. In fact, Pharmaceutical Corp will be counting on this success to breed more success.
Pharmaceutical Corp Counting on Support From Other RPR Teams
“Though the competitive situation is challenging, we’ve looked squarely at the marketplace and have taken decisive actions to create an organization that will support our goals,” says John Leone. “We’re confident we have developed a plan that will get us to where we want to be–and are counting on the support of our colleagues in WIO and R&D to support us,” he concludes.
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