Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics - Region North America re-org

So' let's make a few assumptions then take this to the logical conclusion - Brent wants the (mostly) intact org, at least the critical elements of it, eventually to NJ. He thinks that most will take the move. So when (almost) no one will take the professional and personal risk associated with this move due to the lack of trust and respect for the org he will be forced to go back to the "soft move" scenario. Where, he will have to source and hire, for the positions that he wants / needs to fill in NJ while hoping that the part of his business run by the people in Cambridge hold up long enough the be transferred to NJ?

It looks like Brent has assumed that the org is in much better shape than it really is and is, or will shortly, become aware of the reality of what Vas (and by proxy, Andrin) left him with.

So the only question(s) for all the schmucks that drank the cool aid and took a job with Reg NA in Cambridge is how to take care of them selves since, it is obvious that the current business as structured by the Sr Mgmt can't sustain their job here and the only offer is to continue the same except in NJ, is what to do next?

BTW - it's been mentioned above but Vas doesn't have to worry about this does he?

 

Will the "Fat Lady be singing", when the FDA's rejection of the Infant Menveo filing is finally announced?

 

I have to confess and then make a comment as to why - I come to Cafe Pharma a few times a day in case, someone posts something useful. Why? Because I have so little trust, confidence in the NVD leadership team's truthfulness that I need some communication channel with at least some degree of credibility. Some things here are useless but most are the "best" news that I have gotten since I worked here. I hope, for Novartis sake, that no one ever puts anything of a criminal or compliance nature here. The damage to the public reputation of Novartis would be huge!

 

You mean like when the VP of Sales Tom Gibbs got caught spending $1,000's taking himself, along with a group of salesmen and customers to strip clubs and expensing it? He tried to get away with it by colluding / coercing the salespeople to all spend $250 then approving each charge himself on their expense account submissions. One of the salesmen implicated Tom when that salesman got caught.

Is that what you are talking about?

 

Bad news - FDA rejected the Infant Menveo application so we will have to refile and wait at least a year

Good news - Brent says that there is nothing to worry about so he is in a good mood and he will tell us that everything will be ok on a phone call Tue. Wouldn't you be happy if you no longer needed to make excuses to fire all your marketing team so you didn't have to move all those losers to NJ! If you are in field sales, when Novartis puts a stop on your corp travel card, your pc and phone doesn't work anymore and you wake up and find your corp car was repossessed overnight, you shouldn't be surprised!

 

It was not rejected (only delayed) and they do not have to "refile" the sBLA, only respond to the FDA's questions. Just a few incorrect words make your post completely misleading.

 

Thanks for having that impromptu telecon, nvd leadership team. I now feel absolutely reassured that my job is safe after hearing Brent announce that there will be no org changes as a result of this setback. I have faith that all of their decisions and actions will be designed and delivered with integrity and transparency, as they have since the day all of us vss's started in april of '09. Oops, I mean August. Nevermind, actually October...

 

“Novartis said it believed the concerns raised by the FDA for the vaccine in infants between two months and 12 months were "of procedural nature" and said it planned to resubmit its label extension application within a few months”

Andrin Oswald, Jan 31, 2011

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...70U06720110131

Andrin appoints Vas to Head Development

"We reccieved a full response letter . . . . " "And as long as we learn from our mistakes, we are and remain on track".

Vas will lead the response efforts.

I think that everyone, except Andrin and Vas, can see who the mistakes are".

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
Albert Einstein

I wonder how long it will take Vassella and Jiminez to save NVD from the insanity!

Does anyone else feel that this is all degenerating into a Kafka-est story?

 

Portions of this post maybe technically incorrect but I cannot see how it can be characterized "misleading". After Brent's call it is obvious that at will be at least a year before the NVD response - FDA review - ACIP recomendation cycle can complete and then it is very likley that the best that we can hope for is a permisive recomendation from the ACIP.

So, eventhough Brent pointed out that our budget goals are only partially based on the incremental sales due to Infant Menveo it is still true that with the current budget we are far from profitable. The question remains if, from Novartis Corps point of view, is the "investent" (loss) a good investment - is keeping the current spend and structure required to capitalize on the future potential. Remember, that was based on assumptions are no longer true.

The bottom line - the post mybe be incorrect in some technical details and the conclusion maybe inartfully stated, the conclusion is the most likely future.

 

Wow, you are one of the original survivoring VSS's! You have realyy survived alot of changes. Still getting sales incentive based on calls to the target lists? Getting sales credit for VFC and Wholesaleer and Distributor sales? I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with these metrics as how else are you going to keep a bunch of folks around trying to flog a product that most of the customers hate?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIVfbylUU-M&feature=topics

 

Are you still using the multi-million $ Target Mobile? Your ipad (where almost a year after a roll-out marketing is having to develop user training to include basic functions since surveys showed that the majority of field sales reps had never turned on)? Or have you started using the new CRM Sales Force dot com functionality yet (another mutli-million $ spend)?

What was the quote from Einstein in an early post?

It is apparent that we are using the "throw it against the wall and see what sticks" management decision techniques and spending tens of millions of Novartis $'s doing so.

 

Ray Flynn now works for Vas in Development running Clinical Logistics. The only person who was in Cambridge less than Ginger or Andrin has been promoted so he can make more, work less and have a job where he doesn't have to move to NJ and pretend to work there.

 

Let's hope that the much hyped pipeline, especially flu, holds up because if it doesn't then there is not much future in the US. Maybe even globally.

 

So what have been the questions of FDA to Novartis over Menveo filing? Any answers to that..
And what happens to Bexsero.... when will it be launched in US and Europe? Or will it be launched as a combination vaccine with ACYW?

 

The “wonderful pipeline” is not all that it is drummed up to be, at least not in the near future. New flu products Optaflu and Agriflu are not going to bring in any meaningful value to the patients. So don’t get your hopes up. Sanofi and other s are going to introduce quadrivalent flu vaccines. Fluad elderly or infant are not going to come to market for a couple of years. So don’t count on Flu having a real positive impact in the near future. Other vaccines in development, could and hopefully will have a real impact on the industry, but this is to be seen several years from now. *

 

Look...here are the facts as it relates to the future of NVD. There is no future unless you're willing to wait 5 to 7 years and even then it's very questionable. The pentavalent vaccine is the companies best hope and that is years away. Bexsero won't be launched in the US. The company has shown that the field will play a limited role if any in selling any flu vaccines and that the segment leaders will continue to shoulder the load. If you're currently working at NVD keep collecting a paycheck but at the same time you better be looking for a new job because this train will be derailing at some point and not everyone will make it out alive. Good luck to all.

 

So it appears that the amazing products from Rino that were promised when Novartis bought Chiron are not going to be what everyone thought - cheaper to discover, quicker to market, easier to license more and effective vaccines were all supposed to be a result of reverse vaccinology. 5-7 years is a long time for Novartis to absorb the losses it takes to run Research and Development and Tech Ops with little revenue. The "bathtub curve", or the promise of future success, is often interrupted by the reality of the "bathtub ring" long before the upturn starts.

 

The last 2 sentences describe Andrin and Vas well.