Pros? They pay well and give bonuses, good benefits and hire good people especially scientists. Trips to Paris. Cons? They focus on trying to emulate bigger pharmas, fire good managers for arrogant douchebags which drives the good resources away. I was part of the team(s) that moved one site from SF to NJ and Milford to Cambridge and watched them decimate a great opportunity for growth and a bright future by backstabbing the talented, dedicated leadership and replacing them with ass kissing, yes men/women who managed up instead of supporting the scientists and hard working resources. Before you say anything about me being a disgruntled employee who was let go, I left voluntarily after bringing up Kendall. I was given a raise and a bonus and walked away because I knew this place would be circling the drain soon and boom! they lay off half the site and shut down Basking Ridge. What a shame.
Pro's: As mentioned above a good company with good people. Aggressive growth strategy with one new product/indication per year. Moving to Cambridge as part of rebranding the company as a leader in biotech. Putting they money where their mouth is by attracting talent and putting the pieces in place for future success. Con's: The move to Cambridge will create obvious issue as they have to on board 100's of new people. Moving and growing at the same time can be tough for any company. There will be significant bumps until the dust settles with the move.
Pro: Company has potential Con: Management doesn't know how to run a specialty company. Sales force comp plans ran like those of a primary care sales force. Big Pharma management being brought in with a Big Pharma mindset. Typical year over year across the board price increases and ridiculous growth expectations on products based on sales $$ projections vs the actual disease state, prevalence, and markets.
They cant keep experienced oncology reps because it is an 'interim' stepping stone for most talented people. Move to Cambridge for King Richard (his own thoughts of himself-no one elses) has caused alot of commotion and disruption for those folks all the way down to the sales force that he could care less about. Sales base salaries are just a tad above primary care -yes bonuses USED to be good-say bye-bye to the 'good old days' with Rickie in charge. Sales projections and 'baselines' which really means 'goals' in regular pharma speak are unrealistic and inflated when taking into consideration disease state, length of time some poor patient will live with pancreatic CA , and adoption (or not) by Oncologists. Ipsen better have a proactive plan for generic Sando or that will not be pretty in a couple of years. VERY slow in plan to bring their PRRT to the table after Lutithera out for a year already -and Ipsen's will be ready for US launch when?? Sales force who are lucky are being recruited out to much higher paying companies with more promising oncology treatments. Watch for this in the coming weeks, months.
Truly sad what has happened to this once cutting edge and rising star of a US Oncology presence. Once they were different with niche Oncology products which were gaining share and their sales force shared in the great successes. Over past year and a half under RP this culture has been lost. Expectations for products are astronomical and it’s like leadership has no understanding of the brutal disease we treat. Before 2020 arrives they will be replacing half their top notch sales force who have built Ipsen Oncology and are experienced enough to take their skills and relationships elsewhere. Truly sad!
Pro: Started their US Oncology in 2014 and shot like a polished bullet for three years. Great people, Great leadership, Great Results. Everyone wins! Con: They have lost their way. No understanding of disease, market and have kicked aside their strong support of sales force. Trying to be a baby Amgen with a Big Pharma approach. Everyone loses!
HaHa - The "Baby Amgen" comment is in the 10 ring! Agreed, This was once a great place to be and many in the sales force are ready to move on. Its so hard to maintain an elite culture when leadership has devolved into "Big Pharma."
I really like the new big pharma experience. I love my manager spending their time looking at daily call entries. I really appreciate the retro management experience now upon us here
the turnstile will turn, more vacancies, more dead zones of no activity, then rehire and lost sales. Its funny you will pay someone out there working no bonus and they leave but you will pay someone to recommend someone 5grand as a referral. What's wrong with this picture? Half a year later that new person comes along trying to fix the problem that has plagued this company for 10 years. No consistency. If Ipsen wants to be like Amgen, they get 2 shutdowns, Christmas and July 4th weeks. How about you start there instead of this carrot 5 shares of stock.
If you like a manager who rides your booty, then stay. They are obsessed with call entries like Merck and Pfizer. Ouch, hate it for the ones who can’t get out.
