Any predictions on the DTC? Here's my take: Until this company finds out a way (and it better be soon, cause time is running out) to get prescriptions filled and refilled this boat will continue to take on water, and it is listing badly. TV adds are great.... if a patient can get the medication. But you cannot continue to blame reps who are getting physicians to write this dog (It's a dog. Time to be honest) only to have patients continue to struggle at the pharmacy. We are almost a year in and this copay card is still a complete and total FAILURE...! Yes, you may, as a rep, be able to take a dummy script for Brisdelle to a pharmacy and walk the staff through the process with Therapy First and see a $29 copay, but it is asking WAY TO MUCH of providers to educated the patient on this process, and then expect the patient to remember how to walk the pharmacist through it... So here's how a Brisdelle call goes: "Okay doctor, I need you to pay very close attention here or everything I just got you to buy into with Brisdelle will go down the toilet if you don't listen closely. 1st: I need you to make sure the patient doesn't think this is an anti-depressant because they are eventually going to find out paroxetine in a slightly higher dose is, and they are going to freak out and think you think they are crazy. 2nd: You have to make certain, and I can't emphasize this enough, that the patient has to take this card to the pharmacy or they are going to see a cost of $150.00 a month and get blown out of the water like carp being fished by rednecks with dynamite! 3rd: They have to take this drug for at least 30 days or they won't see results. You gotta make sure they do this, doc! 4th: Your EMR is going to send the script to the pharmacy before the patient gets there first. So, the pharmacy is going to have already tried to run the Rx through their insurance and denied it. So, I'm going to need you to call the EMR company and see if there is a way to change the notes so the pharmacist see's the patient is coming in with a copay card. If we can't do the EMR thing, I'm going to need you to write a paper script. Yes, the thing you got the EMR to help rid you of. Oh, and if not, you'll need to have the patient tell the pharmacist they have a copay card and they need to rerun the script using Therapy First as their insurance to get it down to a price that doesn't make them look for a different health care provider after they get pissed at you. 5th: Hmmm, I feel like I'm forgetting something, doctor..... Oh, only about 50% of patients are actually going to see any kind of benefit from taking Brisdelle, and please don't ask me to define benefit... Now, some will forget what you tell them, some will lose their card, some of the pharmacists will call you and say they ran the card and it's too expensive for the patient or the card didn't work, and you'll be asked if they can substitute a 10mg generic Paxil, and, as I just mentioned, for those few who get the script filled only half will respond to it, and don't ask me to define respond.... So for every 10 scripts you write I think we can expect 1 patient to get their script filled, and then only about 15-20% of them will ever even refill it. So write that Brisdelle, doctor! It may take you writing 100 scripts for me to see one go through, but 1 Rx goes a long way with my company right now. Ok, I gotta go. I've got n interview to get to...Huh, what's that doctor? Most of your female patient who are menopausal and not taking estogen are already on an anti-depressant?.. Um, do the math on dosage and if you feel like you won't kill them with serotonin syndrome, go for it, but we never talked about that and it's your call!... Bye!....." So why does Noven think DTC will work? How can it? If you are only getting 15% of patients who initially fill their prescription to refill, how is a commercial going to fix that problem? If you have a 100 patients eventually provide 15 refills, the commercial might create 1000 patients providing 150 refills. Yeah, 150 is more, but this drug has to average a greater than 50% refill rate LONG TERM! I'm not talking about month to month. The patient needs to refill for years!.... It's just not going to happen. Sorry, but it's just not going to happen. There are execs who knew this product being launched was a gamble with odds no higher than a slot machine, but were conned into going forward. A lot of mistakes were made and several people did not do their homework on the landscape for this product. Severely underestimating the acceptance of 7.5 mg of paroxetine by doctors for VMS, the number of women who are already on SSRI's and SNRI's, the number of woman who will just put up with the symptoms because they don't trust drugs, drug companies or just can't afford them, and of course (last but definitely not least) the power of generic Paroxetine substitutions.... Oh, and lets not forget our main competition for Brisdelle..... Estrogen! Yes, the product that built this company. The product that we educated our providers on. Remember those details on why DOT Matrix (you know "DOT" stands for Delivery Optimized Thermodynamics!) delivery was the best way to take estrogen. Trandermal and 1st pass effect???.... Oh, and all those hours explaining the WHI and how the follow-up proved that the benefits of estrogen outweigh the slight risks? Yes, all that is out the door. We turned our back on what made us what we are because someone read an article that less than 10% of menopausal women take estrogen and all they saw was a 90% market and $$$ to go after without doing their homework! Sadly, that is the truth and now reps are leaving. People who have been with this company for years (some for more than a decade) who loved their job are being forced out or feel they have no other choice. Just sickening. BTW, what ever happened to Vivelle Dot going generic? You can't find ANYTHING online about it. Are we being duped? One has to wonder.
Vivelle-dot going generic, what a joke. Tells you how senior "leadership" is not on top of things. Panagy is just collecting a check.
Very well written synopsis of the DTC ad campaign. By the way, let's not get crazy and delete any of those well selected targets the CNS reps have bc maybe the DTC will drive scripts in those wonderful targets. Targets which are primarily no see, unmotivated or uncomfortable prescribing a women's health treatment, retired, dead, or such a long shot that driving two hours to see them is a pure waste of time. Targeting for CNS reps feels like such a rash decision. A rash decision that directly affects sales reps ability to do their jobs not to mention job security. Even drinking the strongest of company Kool-Aid can't paint a less than bleak image of the future.
Anyone think the numbers that are in so far with DTC are promising? 7-8% to me is very disappointing! Your thoughts?
The whole thing is a very poorly thought out venture. Anyone with sense knew cuts would come....it's a generic product in a branded box.
They don't even care people are leaving. Even top performers.are they selling Noven? They did surevey to estimate severance packages? They aren't even asking top performers to re consider or persuade them to stay
CNS has some good targets- just very large territories-4 months is. It long enough to determine CNS success - there are very good reps there
There's been a lot good cns reps transferring to women's health. It's going to be a really seasoned good sales team.
Good targets? You have to be joking. CNS got the bottom of the barrel not already taken by women's health. Good reps. Ok. Bad targets with a re-packaged genetic. Why would they care who leaves, one less severance.
More like the TRUTH. Lol same person from the other thread who was using the word "troll" acting like this company isn't starting to go down in flames. Ok, so if that's not the case please enlighten us on the positive direction the company is heading and how bright the future looks.....pretty please?! You can share some facts.... not just that you are doing well in a contest that really pays shit in retrospect and the fact you're in contention to make winner circle.
Exactly you just made my point hahaahahahhha. Nothing to say ;=) I wonder which corp exec this is lol.
Pipeline What do we have in the pipeline and when are they potentially supposed to hit? Only this or buying a drug will save this ship. Brisdelle is certainly not going to keep the lights on for long. Sorry I haven't been watching the latest town hall meetings.
I'm just getting warmed up for the next great American Novel. Tha is for tuning in..more to come on my next lonely weekend.
