Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 17, 2016 12:16:24 GMT -5
From this mornings Fierce Pharma:
"Last month, AstraZeneca said it would cut $1.1 billion in annual costs, zeroing in on sales and administrative expenses for a big part of those savings.
Now, the U.K.-based company’s sales operation in the U.S. is feeling the effects.
AstraZeneca cut its contract salesforce from Publicis Touchpoint Solutions, the company confirmed in an emailed statement Tuesday, and is reviewing its AstraZeneca sales staffing as well.
Publicis handles AstraZeneca brands in a variety of therapeutic areas, AstraZeneca spokeswoman Abby Bozarth said. The clinical educator team will also see some cutbacks.
“We flexibly shape our selling teams to fit the realities of the marketplace and maximize opportunities for both our growth and future brands,” Bozarth said.
Publicis sales reps on the AstraZeneca force said the cutbacks would hit 1,600 contract employees, largely in diabetes, although the respiratory team and the Movantik force would also see some reductions. The sources spoke on condition that they remain anonymous.
The Publicis cuts take effect June 30. They were announced via conference call Monday."
Any chance Publicis took the best ones and sent them to Mannkind?
|
|
|
|
Post by therealisaching on May 17, 2016 12:30:23 GMT -5
Interesting opportunity to hire the most qualified reps
|
|
|
|
Post by bradleysbest on May 17, 2016 12:34:35 GMT -5
I am curious as to how many MNKD hires have occurred so far by Publicis? Anyone have any info on this?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 17, 2016 13:07:35 GMT -5
Gotta be careful on cutback sales people. You dont cut back on closers.
|
|
|
|
Post by matt on May 17, 2016 14:55:40 GMT -5
This situation is precisely why the big pharmas use Publicis and companies like them. When a pharma needs extra bodies for something like a product launch, a group of experienced salesmen are just a phone call away (most have been let go in downsizings from other pharmas). Similarly, when it is time to reduce heads it is the contract resources that go first. Most of pharma is a mix of permanent employees and mercenaries from the contract agencies for just this reason.
Unless the contract between AZ and Publicis prevents recycling of the downsized salesforce to work for an AZ competitor, you know where MNKD will get most of their talent. Usually there are some territory based non-competes, but if AZ does not view Afrezza as a competitive product they might choose to waive their rights.
|
|
|
|
Post by factspls88 on May 17, 2016 15:17:23 GMT -5
Castagna just tweeted a thank you to Astra Zeneca: "Thank you AstraZeneca for letting go of some great people with diabetes experience this week!"
|
|
|
|
Post by sportsrancho on May 17, 2016 15:21:09 GMT -5
Castagna just tweeted a thank you to Astra Zeneca: "Thank you AstraZeneca for letting go of some great people with diabetes experience this week!" I saw that fackspls, to funny! |
|
|
|
Post by kbrion77 on May 17, 2016 15:31:17 GMT -5
Castagna just tweeted a thank you to Astra Zeneca: "Thank you AstraZeneca for letting go of some great people with diabetes experience this week!" I'm sure with their response being, "No problem, we are busy building our Oncology platform into a billion dollar business line, good luck." |
|
|
|
Post by therealisaching on May 17, 2016 15:52:07 GMT -5
Castagna just tweeted a thank you to Astra Zeneca: "Thank you AstraZeneca for letting go of some great people with diabetes experience this week!" I'm sure with their response being, "No problem, we are busy building our Oncology platform into a billion dollar business line, good luck." "As a small pharma, MannKind can approach their sales and marketing efforts of Afrezza with laser focus unencumbered by internal conflicting public demand or other challenges that often exist in large pharmas." - Mike C on his 1st day.
This is a perfect example. AZ needs to cut $1BB in costs & mnkd is potentially the beneficiary. They may have just found 50-70 experienced diabetic sales folks who already have relationships with endos & their office managers.
Nice to see something drop in our lap for once.
|
|
|
|
Post by kbrion77 on May 17, 2016 15:57:08 GMT -5
I'm sure with their response being, "No problem, we are busy building our Oncology platform into a billion dollar business line, good luck." "As a small pharma, MannKind can approach their sales and marketing efforts of Afrezza with laser focus unencumbered by internal conflicting public demand or other challenges that often exist in large pharmas." - Mike C on his 1st day.
This is a perfect example. AZ needs to cut $1BB in costs & mnkd is potentially the beneficiary. They may have just found 50-70 experienced diabetic sales folks who already have relationships with endos & their office managers.
Nice to see something drop in our lap for once.
God I hope so and for everyone's sake I hope there is a quick uptick in scripts. The last thing I want to hear or see is someone posting about a conspiracy on how AstraZeneca is secretly paying these contract salespeople to sabotage Afrezza. |
|
|
|
Post by bearcatmax on May 17, 2016 16:06:06 GMT -5
"As a small pharma, MannKind can approach their sales and marketing efforts of Afrezza with laser focus unencumbered by internal conflicting public demand or other challenges that often exist in large pharmas." - Mike C on his 1st day.
This is a perfect example. AZ needs to cut $1BB in costs & mnkd is potentially the beneficiary. They may have just found 50-70 experienced diabetic sales folks who already have relationships with endos & their office managers.
Nice to see something drop in our lap for once.
God I hope so and for everyone's sake I hope there is a quick uptick in scripts. The last thing I want to hear or see is someone posting about a conspiracy on how AstraZeneca is secretly paying these contract salespeople to sabotage Afrezza. I cracked up laughing at the last sentence. |
|
|
|
Post by edvarney on May 17, 2016 16:43:25 GMT -5
Yes!! This announcement from AZ is likely like an early Christmas present for Mike C.
With his experience; I fully expect he will cherry pick the folks he needs throughout the sales territory and have folks in place with their feet on the ground from day 1 for Afrezza !!! Lets Roll Mike!!! and God Bless Mannkind...
|
|
|
|
Post by kc on May 17, 2016 16:51:18 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by lakers on May 17, 2016 18:30:56 GMT -5
Mike Castagna @castagna2011 · 1h1 hour ago Thank you AstraZeneca for letting go of some great people with diabetes experience this week! ------------------------------------ www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/astrazeneca-cuts-1-600-contract-reps-house-force-drive-to-save-1-1b-sourcesLast month, AstraZeneca said it would cut $1.1 billion in annual costs, zeroing in on sales and administrative expenses for a big part of those savings. Now, the U.K.-based company’s sales operation in the U.S. is feeling the effects. AstraZeneca cut its contract salesforce from Publicis Touchpoint Solutions, the company confirmed in an emailed statement Tuesday, and is reviewing its AstraZeneca sales staffing as well. Publicis handles AstraZeneca brands in a variety of therapeutic areas, AstraZeneca spokeswoman Abby Bozarth said. The clinical educator team will also see some cutbacks.
“We flexibly shape our selling teams to fit the realities of the marketplace and maximize opportunities for both our growth and future brands,” Bozarth said. Publicis sales reps on the AstraZeneca force said the cutbacks would hit 1,600 contract employees, largely in diabetes, although the respiratory team and the Movantik force would also see some reductions. The sources spoke on condition that they remain anonymous. The Publicis cuts take effect June 30. They were announced via conference call Monday. AstraZeneca would not confirm hard numbers on the staffing changes. But the company said it’s revisiting its “field force deployment” as part of its “ongoing strategy to operate its business more efficiently.” Bozarth said the company is working through the details of the cutbacks now. “We are reviewing all staffing as we make decisions on how best to align our sales organization for success,” she told FiercePharma via email, and “this includes both AstraZeneca and contracted sales force roles.” As Bozarth pointed out, pharma companies commonly use contract sales groups to augment in-house sales forces as a way to manage staffing levels. Drugmakers often grow and shrink their sales teams by adding or subtracting contract reps. The approach “gives us the flexibility to change our sales force size to react to market changes and to meet customer needs,” Bozarth said. “[T]hese changes will not impact our ability to bring innovative medicines to people who need them.” AstraZeneca is hardly alone in cutting sales jobs. Japan-based Daiichi Sankyo recently announced up to 1,200 layoffs in its U.S. unit, many of them in its commercial headquarters, and Sanofi told French unions earlier this year that it would cut 155 jobs in its sales and marketing force there. In late 2014, GlaxoSmithKline said it would cut hundreds of commercial jobs; the layoffs were part of a $1.6 billion restructuring designed to cope with fast-declining sales of respiratory giant Advair. More recently, the embattled drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals, facing a sales hit after promising to abandon its growth-through-price-hikes strategy, said it would cut loose 140 contract reps handling the new female libido pill Addyi, as well as 140 salespeople repping its dermatology, GI and women’s health brands. Like Daiichi, which cut jobs as its big-selling blood pressure drug Benicar neared the end of its patent life, AstraZeneca is anticipating sales slippage for a blockbuster med now facing generics. The cholesterol fighter Crestor, the company’s top seller with $5 billion in 2015 sales, lost its exclusivity May 1. |
|
