I am very happy for them…but I sure hope that they realize that this is merely a 8-11 month reprieve from the axman? We all need to be smart, people. There is no way on Gods green earth that we need so many AEs, E's H's and DCS's out here. Someone (either Sanofi or we) are gonna start de-escalating the field force arms race. I was around for the pharma industry escalation, and it was exciting and sickening at the same time. Exciting, because there were many opportunities for advancement and to be hired. Sickening, because many people were hired and many more promoted that had nothing going for them other than their tenure and their looks.
Now that everyone knows that employers follow PBM formularies, and physicians' writing habits are often mandated by payers, there really isn't a need for AEs to call on huge plans or employers more than a few times a year. There is no point to have 12 rep visits a month at that big group practice, since they will only see you over lunch, and rules dictate that each company can't have more than two lunches a month. There is no benefit to a DBM tailing a rep more than twice a month.
Conclusion? There are plenty of layers of fat out in the field, and someone is going to start pulling out the sharp butchers knife. Don't be caught unawares, or be lulled into false sense of security, just because we made it through the first round!!!