Lies We've Been Told

Lets put together a list of lies we were told when we joined Alnylam. I'll start.

"At Alnylam, we put the patient first."

Wrong! That should be we put paying patients first. If you can't pay, sorry.

 

welcome to the greedy world of pharmaceutical sales. That’s why you are so ridiculously overpaid. You are being asked to sell your soul and play the game. Either play it, or get another career. It’s a ruthless, cutthroat business. It will make you miserable most of the time. Good luck to you and yours.

 

So glad I dodged this bullet - during interviews something didn't feel right with the people here. I see that the stock has nose dived down - guess that is helping your 401K plan. Good luck!

 

While interviewing being told over and over again how much money we all are going to make!

 

I wonder if lies is the right word. I don't think so. I think that the commercial team that was hired was told a lot of things that ended up not being true, but I believe the people that provided the information actually thought it was true. The real issue here is that we are trying to go from an R&D company to a commercial company and the people who are pulling all the triggers don't understand how to run this type of organization and have no respect for commercial operations and do not trust them. This is the crux of our issue and John M. and Barry G. are simply ill-informed as to exactly how bad things are in commercial and the low quality of the leadership. At some point a leader at Alnylam needs to step up and decide what they really want this company to be, and only then will we be able to move forward. If they continue to treat their commercial people like dogs, they have no chance of success and I recommend firing us all and remaining an R&D company. License your products to people that know what they are doing.

One suggestion I have as well is to open up your communication. Long time Alnylam people are probably thinking that I'm wrong and that the communication here is great. Its not. You ask for input, then when you get it you lash out and tell us how we are wrong. Thats not communication. For every 1 email I get with real and actionable information I get 30 asking me to vote for Alnylam as the best place to work (it's not), about 100 Zumba invitations, 30 or so Yoga invitations, a couple for a massage, invitations to a launch party or Christmas party that notes I am not allowed to attend, 100's of baby messages and reply alls for people I do not know (what the hell is in the water up there), countless resignations and reply alls for the resignations (you do know how that looks right?), and most recently the endless requests for us to vote on RNAi as the Science Magazine breakthrough of the year. Is there some correlation between the Yoga Classes and all the babies? HEY WALL STREET, THIS IS WHAT THESE PEOPLE ARE SPENDING THEIR TIME ON. No wonder you short us and sell us off.

Before I am attacked by a Home Office person and asked to leave if I don't like it here, rest assured I am actively working on it. Most of us are. Think about that for a minute. RNAi is amazing. The promise of what we can do for patients is amazing. This is supposed to be the most exciting time for a company and a team and everyone I speak to across all teams is unhappy and tells me they do not understand how decisions are being made. Its an absolute shame and I am so disappointed it is turning out this way.

John and Barry. If you care, please spend some time looking into what is really happening. Not with your direct reports but with others. Go deep into the teams and don't give up until you find someone that is willing to be honest and up front. We are out here. There are simple foundational things that can make a world of difference here, but this company has chosen not to compete.

 

Bla

We all agree. Zero commercial talent and even worse on the market access side. Who hires these rejects?

 

This is so true. Over thirty emails on padding the vote for Science Magazines breakthrough of the year for RNAi including several from our CEO John M. We are struggling as a commercial organization and this is what they choose to spend their time on. Smoke and Mirrors.

BTW "commercial team" you are not alone. We are afraid in Cambridge too.

 

Bloom off the rose on this one, sheesh

 

Well this is a fun thread! Lets star with lies:

JG-"We will deal with and communicate with everyone individually on cars and do what we can to make everyone whole." STILL WAITING ON THAT CALL JOHN. You made the statement, you need to communicate. Quit hiding coward.

JJ-"I believe the BAE roll is a director level position". THEN WHY DO YOU TREAT US LIKE PRIMARY CARE, OH WAIT, thats all you really know.

AO-Well, since Andy really doesn't communicate, there really are no lies. Not sure which is worse.

To the poster that wrote the longer thread. Totally agree!!!!!!!

 

I will take a shot at this—how about Cardiac label based upon exploratory endpoints!

 

Same with Alnylam in Europe. It’s still a R&D Company with loads of complicated processes. And The Attitude „HCPs should be very grateful that we are on the market now“ isnt very helpful at all.

 

That attitude is exactly what we have here too. Yes, Onpattro is a great drug. So what, you still need to understand commercial realities in a complex market.

 

I just want Jamie, John, Andy, and everyone else in Cambridge to understand when people start leaving, and they WILL, that it wasn’t because they didn’t believe in the drug or the science, it is because no one in the home office will acknowledge all the mistakes that have been made and are continuing to be because they aren’t willing to step up and say “we made some mistakes, now we have to fix them”. This goes all the way back to being told to focus on cardiology, expanding for an indication they couldn’t even secure, being directed not to do any pre launch work with hospitals or infusion centers to breaking our original contracts by forcing us to buy/lease cars then saying sorry ... you all have to order a company car and pay us to use them. The list could go on and on and on!

Customers are unhappy, no one is making ANY money and anyone on the commercial team who knows what is going on is looking to get out of here. This place is a sinking ship.

One thing I can say for sure is Head of Global Launch Excellence is NOT a title I would want right now!!!! This company hasn’t figured out how to be a commercial organization and they are treating us as primary care reps with a rare disease product.

Our only hope is for someone to step up and start working to fix all the issues before it’s too late.

 

Yikes - gut feeling was spot on with this place. Home office had the feeling of a pop-up store, description by the hiring manager of the benefits was suspect at best, using stock for 401K pay was odd & Jamie was so focused on his tablet during interview it was frightening. Seemed like cool technology - but most of these research companies that try to go commercial end up being bought by a larger fish that successfully rolls out the new products. Best of luck - looks like you will need it.

 

so what did the salary range end up being for the sales force? recruiters were very vague about it.

 

This is really sad, and its why great leadership who has done it before makes all the difference in the world. You have to have strong people leading who fight the internal battle to empower the field. When I saw the caliber of RSD's that were being hired, with almost no ultra rare disease experience, I knew the place was in trouble. JJ just didn't have the knowledge to establish a commercial sales organization of high production in ultra rare disease, I told him he was going to get his ass kicked because he was hiring amateurs as lieutenants. Sad!

 

Currently in hiring process at Alnylam - anyone know what the background check looks for and how far back? And no, I’m not a criminal lol just curious