Abbott, J&J: tops in sales force quality

Medical Marketing and Media, May 2006 by McGuire, Stephen

ABBOTT LABORATORIES, followed by Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lilly, were ranked the top pharma companies in overall sales force quality by primary care physicians, according to TargetRx's "Sales Force Analysis" report. Genentech, followed by Novartis and TAP Pharmaceutical Products, were the topranked companies in overall sales force quality by specialty physicians, the report found.

The TargetRx analysis benchmarked 11 pharmaceutical sales forces that call on primary care physicians and 15 pharmaceutical sales forces that call on physician specialists against each other.

Drawing conclusions based on 2005 performance and sales force effectiveness to physician prescribing, the analysis aims to provide pharma companies with opportunities to improve their market position, according to Mike Luby.TargetRx's CEO.

"We are not just polling physicians and telling pharmaceutical companies what physicians are saying about them," Luby told MM&M. "With our patented approach, we are able to determine how things you are doing in the marketplace drive market share."

Key drivers of the TargetRx data included detail piece effectiveness, which measures how well the detail piece increases prescribing.

"Schering-Plough really distinguishes itself in this area and is the top company on detail piece effectiveness," Luby said.

Another driver of data is identifying the appropriate patient for therapy. "Among primary care specialists, Lilly ranks No. 1 and Abbott ranks No. 2 in this category. Among specialty physicians, Abbott ranks No. 1 and Lilly ranks No. 2," he explained.

Companies included in the benchmarking were Abbott, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Hoffman-La Roche, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Schering-Plough, TAP and Wyeth. -Stephen McGuire