I appreciate that USL tried to do something different. They made mistakes and actually at least attempted to make corrections in a relatively timely manner (at least compared to most pharm companies).
I can handle change. What I can't handle is the complete lack of logical thinking. SH and CT want to talk about the money that Trokendi has made. Guess what?! A majority of that business comes from physicians that either we weren't allowed to call on for a long time or weren't even in our system! With this new 50 target list, yet another primary care doctor has popped up for me (not in Veeva last quarter) with Trokendi scripts...not 1 or 2...over 100! Had these fools given us weekly data that included Trokendi data from day one (or even day 400) we could have a lot more business by now.
The idiotic reason for not providing this information was that they didn't want us chasing small targets. First of all, none of us have enough targets to really even fill 2 weeks to begin with! No high IR writer will be sacrificed, Chris. Secondly, why would you not make use of the ground work done by the competitor?! Clearly if a doctor is writing their drug, he/she values a once a day, has the right managed care situation, and can be accessed.
The issue is not the number of calls, how many emails or letters are sent, or the number of doctors sampled. The issue is that we have consistently had shitty information and direction when it comes to targeting - unmanageable and incomplete MC data (now slightly better), weekly data ONLY showing those who have written our product, and the crappiest database I've ever seen.
It's not like this hasn't been pointed out to them. They just don't listen. How about get someone in leadership that has sold a brand that competes with generics or, even better, someone who has sold an extended release before? Experience launching Topomax doesn't mean a damn thing. We aren't selling the molecule.
I can handle change. What I can't handle is the complete lack of logical thinking. SH and CT want to talk about the money that Trokendi has made. Guess what?! A majority of that business comes from physicians that either we weren't allowed to call on for a long time or weren't even in our system! With this new 50 target list, yet another primary care doctor has popped up for me (not in Veeva last quarter) with Trokendi scripts...not 1 or 2...over 100! Had these fools given us weekly data that included Trokendi data from day one (or even day 400) we could have a lot more business by now.
The idiotic reason for not providing this information was that they didn't want us chasing small targets. First of all, none of us have enough targets to really even fill 2 weeks to begin with! No high IR writer will be sacrificed, Chris. Secondly, why would you not make use of the ground work done by the competitor?! Clearly if a doctor is writing their drug, he/she values a once a day, has the right managed care situation, and can be accessed.
The issue is not the number of calls, how many emails or letters are sent, or the number of doctors sampled. The issue is that we have consistently had shitty information and direction when it comes to targeting - unmanageable and incomplete MC data (now slightly better), weekly data ONLY showing those who have written our product, and the crappiest database I've ever seen.
It's not like this hasn't been pointed out to them. They just don't listen. How about get someone in leadership that has sold a brand that competes with generics or, even better, someone who has sold an extended release before? Experience launching Topomax doesn't mean a damn thing. We aren't selling the molecule.