Concerns

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yes but 150 vs. several thousand is quite a disparity-150 reps can't get the message/benefit
proposition out to enough targets to make for reaching prescribing potential-it will be potentially prescribed as a specialty product, and have a very small following vs. the focus on co-morbidity side-benefits which have much broader potential among every Primary Care physician in America (Hypertension, Diabetes and Dyslipidimia)
 






agreed...not to mention that this will need to be a very time-consuming and comprehensive call, requiring a lot of time in the Physician office to educate healthcare providers on REMS, side effects, if done ethically even the 150-person sales force are not going to be able to rush through a typical 8 or 9 calls a day, hence even less penetration in the marketplace
 






Anonymous said:
agreed...not to mention that this will need to be a very time-consuming and comprehensive call, requiring a lot of time in the Physician office to educate healthcare providers on REMS, side effects, if done ethically even the 150-person sales force are not going to be able to rush through a typical 8 or 9 calls a day, hence even less penetration in the marketplace
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it's not going to be easy, that's why it's called WORK not vacation!
 












Anonymous said:
free publicity is not enough to market a medication in today's marketplace-whoever wrote this quote is clearly not in the Industry
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Indeed. Qsymia, as you know, is a combination of 2 generic drugs already on the market. You can probably buy a months supply of both together for around $50 or less. If the branded drug costs much more than that, the doctors who are willing to rx it may just give the 2 components. I think that a lot of doctors may be inhibited. This is also a scheduled drug. Topiramate is a drug with potential side effects. I tried it at one time for migraine prophylaxis and stopped it after about 3 days because it made me feel like crap (which may be why people lose weight while taking it). If someone is taking it for seizures or some psychiatric problem they are more willing to put up with side effects than for a weight loss drug that is not keeping them alive.
This is basically recycling 2 already available drugs.
I think coming here is a huge risk. Diet drugs have not done well over the last few years.
From a potential sales viewpoint, there’s a lot of negatives here. The welcoming screen on the drugs website lists a litany of horrible things than can happen to you if you take this. The average person may be scared away. Apparently you will have to order this from an approved mail order pharmacy? Patients and doctors are not going to like this. Buying diet medications is often sort of an impulse purchase and if they can’t get it from the local pharmacy a lot of people may not even try. Doctors have to complete an education program? I think a lot of doctors will be alienated. Every place you look you see “birth defects”. No woman who feels she may be having children anytime soon is going to want to go anywhere near this. The only other medication that I’ve seen such strong pregnancy warnings about is Accutane. I assume if they do direct to consumer TV marketing they are going to have to mention this same stuff.
I used to do market research for drug companies selecting the best ad materials. The product website is horrible. They need pictures of happy thin women and green fields and butterflies, not titles about Risk Evaluation and Mitigation.
 






After reading through the entire post two things I didn't see mentions, Vivus is not allowed to advertise this drug for two years and they can only market to obesity specialists so the 150 reps may be sufficient.
 






Anonymous said:
After reading through the entire post two things I didn't see mentions, Vivus is not allowed to advertise this drug for two years and they can only market to obesity specialists so the 150 reps may be sufficient.
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...and they are targeting those physicians that already belief in the effectiveness of generic phentermine/topiramate combo but pushing the extended release feature. Now, the real problem here is that J&J is fighting patent rights, is Vivus willing to share profits with J&J??
 
























1000s hired to launch the product maybe, but only a small percentage actually "working". 17 years of experience with small pharma and big pharma has shown me that smaller well trained sales forces are actually more productive, companies using multiple counter parts rarely get all members of teams working their hardest

Anonymous said:
I have researched the product to the hilt-the clinical studies on co-morbidities were so impressive, I bought the stock...but I am very skeptical that a 150-person sales force can have a successful launch nationwide with the key issues that will exist, or obstacles such as managed care, side effect profile, and serious multiple disease-state knowledge required to effectively sell it...the launches I have been part of in recent years had two major big pharma companies and literally 1000's of qualified Reps working to make it a success, with many fewer obstacles
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Anonymous said:
1000s hired to launch the product maybe, but only a small percentage actually "working". 17 years of experience with small pharma and big pharma has shown me that smaller well trained sales forces are actually more productive, companies using multiple counter parts rarely get all members of teams working their hardest
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agreed that the 1000 person sales force is over-kill and too many professionals in a pod are wasting time/money and annoying to the healthcare providers...but there should be some happy medium, a product like Qsymia is going to need a lot of physician and healthcare provider education to get them to prescribe, and have the target reach that would be necessary to achieve optimal results
 












the biggest concern is no pipeline. no drug company is successful with just one drug, not matter how big the sales are. name one company that exists more than 2 years with only one drug and zero pipeline.

if this drug does well, vivus will be bought by merck, takeda, or some other large company that has cash and needs drugs to give to their salespeople. and then they will not need reps, hence PDI instead of having an actual commercial team.

just my two cents. why else would they only hire 150 and pay so little? they are waiting to cash out to highest bidder. those inside and shareholders will do well, sales reps - not likely.
 
























Anonymous said:
And that's more important than long term cardiovascular health? Profits over people. Let's just continue to look short term without any accountability for the long term effects on an individuals health. Typical corporate puke.I'm not surprised.
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Cost is not an issue when it comes to Plastic surgery or Lasik eye surgery so could obesity fall on this side of health improvements ? The case with Qsimya is different as it will be to trade off the living obese to living with a bundle of diseases resulting from potential heart valve dysfunction. Well, heart valve dysfunction can cause Pulmonary edema (Abnormal lung fluid) and long living of Asthma strokes. Who would trade his/her obesity with Asthma strokes and live the rest of his/her life on inhalers? I wouldn't go for Qsymia even if sold for $10. Safety is my first concern after going through an Asthma stroke two weeks ago. I thought I was going to die.
 






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