Sales & Marketing people: Unfortunately for both, neither is right or wrong. Like any other controversial subject, there are good arguments on both sides - it's all about perspective. There is, has, and always will be a disconnect between sales and marketing. Marketing creates POA's from marketing research - numbers, trends and physician polling results. In their minds, numbers and trends and physicians' opinions are bible. Inherently dangerous to this way of thinking is the fact that numbers and trends, while more concrete, do not take into account individual sales territory variables. IE, if 90% of a reps territory is controlled by an MCO that has Humira preferred, I don't care what sales aids you have or what the clinical data says, they are not going to be able to increase market share, much less stop the loss of it. Also, if you ask physicians about the surveys they receive (and get paid to complete them) they'll tell you they rarely have the time to fill them out truthfully. They typically become 'Yes Men' at this point and just answer how they think they should answer. In the end, while the resulting POA may well-suited to cover their findings, the foundation of their research is flawed and thus, so is the POA. As for sales, reps are faced, not with numbers and trends and polling results, but with the real-life circumstances surrounding the physician interactions in their territories. In other words, yes, the POA sounds great and physicians SHOULD react positively to this, but the truth is, THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE BUT WHAT THEY SEE IN THEIR PRACTICE. And what they see, in general (there will always be situations where this is not the general rule) is very little difference between Humira and Enbrel. What the patient chooses and what drug is most available to the patient, considering their financial situation, is going to win. What 'should' and 'what does' work is the essence of this disconnect that exists between sales & marketing. Finally, the reality is that Enbrel has, for the most part, reached its potential. There are more and more new entries into the market that will soon be just like the PPI & SSRI markets and, let's face it, their are a finite number of patients to capture. Honestly, not being sarcastic at all, if they really wanted to capture more market share, they must LOWER THE PRICE AND BECOME MORE AGRESSIVE WITH CONTRACTING - BOTH OF WHICH WILL PROBABLY NEVER HAPPEN. By the way, I'm a rep.
