Why is Neuro continuing to tank?

I here a lot of excuses, but what is really the issue? Why the significant turnover?Crappy 2013? January?

 

KBx6!

 

Run is done. Next?

 

In the last few years, however, St. Jude’s neuromodulation franchise has lost its edge, and the company is now in a battle to keep up with Boston Scientific Corp. and several newer competitors in the neuromodulation space. Chris Chavez has left the company to head up a promising firm in the cardiac device market. Rohan Hoare, a Chavez protege who had been tapped as his replacement to run the neuromodulation division, is also out, and was recently hired by Cyberonics. Several other former St. Jude neuromodulation executives have left the firm to join other neuromodulation companies. Indeed, the neuromodulation division itself imploded and is now part of an implantable electronic systems division under the leadership of Eric Fain, who previously headed the cardiac rhythm management division.

Aside from the staff cutbacks and defections, St. Jude has been impacted by many of the other issues facing large medical device companies, including regulatory hurdles, failed clinical trials, and government inquiries. In 2012, the company announced that a clinical trial for treatment of migraine using occipital nerve stimulation failed to meet its primary endpoint.

Despite the setbacks, many industry observers pinned their hopes on St. Jude’s DBS products. The company’s Libra and LibraXP devices are approved for treatment of Parkinson’s disease in Europe and Australia and its compact rechargeable Brio system garnered a favorable reaction from clinicians when it was introduced. All three devices received CE Mark approval for dystonia in Europe earlier this year.

But the company’s fortunes in DBS were particularly thought to lie in the market for treatment-resistant depression. St. Jude had signed a deal with two of the foremost researchers in the field, Andres Lozano of the University of Toronto and Helen Mayberg of Emory University. The company’s BROADEN trial for DBS of Brodmann area 25 for treatment of depression was well underway and initial data looked promising. The company got approval to expand the trial to 20 sites in 2011. The competitive outlook seemed even more promising when Medtronic abandoned its trial of DBS of VC/VS for depression after a failed futility analysis. Many psychiatrists and neurosurgeons felt that St. Jude had selected a better target—and a better team of researchers—than had Medtronic for treating depression.

Unfortunately, those hopes came crashing down when St. Jude itself failed a futility analysis of the BROADEN trial earlier this month. Some attendees at the 2013 NANS meeting who were familiar with the trial put the blame on Fain, whose background in cardiac devices may have biased him against neuromodulation therapies. Others pointed out that Mayberg’s understanding of targeting for depression shifted in the years after commencement of the trial, which targeted Cg25. Still others believe that what we think of as depression is actually several different etiologies and that until we can precisely target the specific patient population that will respond to a particular stimulation regimen, it will be difficult to meet clinical endpoints in this field.

 

Well said and accurate. Obviously not written by KBx6. He would have just said something to the effect "Go out and sell something you worthless DBags. You take care of me and I'll take care of you. Wait and see, my strategy is going to be talked about for years...." All the while the earnings tank and morale plummets below unheard of levels. Pretty classy/effective leader, huh?

 

I do not know who the author of this is, but I have to admit, it is refreshing to see someone actually right something of intelligence on here. Fair assessment and accurate on top of it all! Thank you

 

Most of european customers hate Libra and LibraXP.
LibraXP is too big, with a lot of limitations on programming (ES: can't program monopolar one side and bipolar the other side), not shielded from magnetic field.
Brio was really appreciated because very small, with an open ended battery and a certification for at least 10 years.
Then BSX came in to the market with Vercise and also Brio step down from his position.
So actually in Europe SJM is far behind Medtronic in primary cell technology and far behind Boston in rechargeable technology....
In addition to this the so called "procedure solution" creates a lot of roadblocks. SJM has no Navigation System, SJM has no Micro Electrode Recording system, SJM has no frameless solution.
From a Clinical point of view ther is no plan for Trials in Parkinson or Dystonia. On the other side Medtronic is running reveral studies and also Boston is doing the same
It seems that DBS is not a focus for SJM!!!!

 

Benign neglect.... Fault STJ corporate for not stepping in and firing the entire sales mgmt. team at Neuro, from the top down. The incomp VP of Sales has surrounded himself with cronies and yes men and women. They have systematically undermined the rep-physician relationship and provided little if any support to the field.. Hell, my manager has never ridden a full day with me to make calls, ever. You can get by with inferior product for awhile but you can't win with inferior people steering the ship. This division lost its mojo 5-6 yrs ago.

 

Completely agree with previous poster. Look, I know there is value in having different levels of field management, but I have seen NO value in what the AVP posiiton brings to the mix? My AVP NEVER is in my area despite repeated requests for assistance from my RSD and me. When I have had him here, it was more about flying in for a dinner and making a pompous statement through his wine selection than it was about making a positive impression on my customer. Our VP was with him on his only visit in, and it became competitve between the two about who had better tastes in wine. Really? Embarrasing!!

 

Sounds incorrect as the AVP's never disagree with the VP of Sales and the obvious reason they are all in that position still and don't have to add value. Glorified assistant to VP.

 

Wake up Rousseau and Fain! You guys really want to lose a couple hundred million in this division?

 

Neuro is toast; nothing new in the pipeline.

 

Neuro should be spun off and sold for scrap. Write off the loss and move on.

 

What kind of money are people making here?

 

Pharma equivalent

 

Run for the hills far away from this gig!

 

I have an opportunity for you that you can earn $7,000 per month at home. haha

So glad I am out of this gig and out of the corporate gig as well. Sick of seeing guys like KB who had a minimal skill set making his way to management. I have seen this time and time again. My district manager from J&J where I started my career was absolutely horrible. He for one had the most horrible grammar/spelling of anyone I have ever seen that wears a suit for a living. The dude is now a big VP within J&J over large section of the company.. He was another KB. Narcissistic, A-hole, who works the game.

How do these people like this get promoted to positions of leadership?

 

No one has mentioned the FDA warning letter which is yet to be lifted since 2009 and had a great deal to do with DBS never launching in the states and the mass layoffs in 2011 and 2012. How can this be going on for almost five years?

http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/ucm170224.htm

This was ANS leadership being left in charge for way too long.

 

Yes the letter is from 2009!! Chavez out in 2011. In comes RH. They give him almost a year to get it correct! Wow a whole YEAR!!! So now it's 2014 and who has been in charge since RH was fired?
KB? Who is the mastermind now? This letter is almost 5 years old. You can't keep holding Chavez for this can you?
The bottom line is that the leadership at Neuro is clueless and it looks like no one can solve the warning letter issue! Telling reps to suck it up and go sell something is not a strategy that will solve this issue.
The powers that be have to get this corrected for this division to move forward and right now they are not getting it done.
The time has passed for the current management. It's time to take the head off this beast!!

 

You can't blame ANS leadership anymore. MR and his team have been in complete control since November 2011. He has talked a mean game, but the fact of the matter is he is not doing any better than they were at getting rid of this warning letter.