Pfizer Tells Entire Salesforce to Work Remotely Due To Coronavirus Pandemic Teleworking is a good way to reduce the chance of spreading infection. Mar 13, 2020 at 9:15PM With the global coronavirus outbreak showing no sign of stopping, many companies around the world are asking employees who can work remotely to do so. Pfizer (NYSEFE) just made it mandatory for all "customer-facing" employees in the U.S. to work remotely and avoid in-person contact to reduce the chance of COVID-19 spreading. The pharmaceutical giant said in a note to workers that employee safety is the top priority for the company, CNBC reported. Pfizer employs more than 88,000 workers globally but it's unclear how many are impacted by this policy. "We are asking that you cease in-person engagement and use virtual customer tools where possible. This decision has been made out of an abundance of caution, with the aim to mitigate the risk of exposure to the virus for colleagues and our community," said Pfizer's leadership. Pfizer also announced its five-point plan to help fight against COVID-19 on Friday, while confirming it's developing a potential antiviral treatment and vaccine candidates. An ongoing trend Companies are doing everything in their power to prevent the COVID-19 outbreak from worsening. Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google told employees across North America to work remotely if they can. AT&T (NYSE:T) made a similar announcement on Friday. President Donald Trump held a much-anticipated press conference Friday afternoon about COVID-19 in the U.S. He formally declared a state of national emergency, a move that allows American states and municipalities to access billions of dollars of additional funding to support COVID-19 prevention efforts.
Drug makers grounding salespeople as coronavirus impact on business spreads MARCH 16, 2020 In another sign that the coronavirus pandemic is fundamentally interrupting the way biopharma conducts business, drug makers are grounding the employees who market and sell their products to physicians and hospitals. On Sunday, Amarin, the maker of the heart drug Vascepa, said it was implementing a two-week suspension of all “face-to-face interactions” between its salespeople and physician offices. The restriction will be in place until March 30. Amgen and Merck have also instructed their respective salesforces to halt all in-person meetings with physicians and hospitals. Starting Monday, “all U.S. field staff will work from home and move to a virtual interaction model” until April 17, Amgen said. A Merck spokesperson characterized the decision as a “pause” but did not specify how long it would last. “We expect others are likely to follow though they may not publicly announce,” Jefferies biotech analyst Michael Yee said in a note to clients. Drug makers said the decision to interrupt marketing activities was being taken to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, safeguard employees and preserve health care resources at a time when physicians and hospitals are focused on fighting the coronavirus outbreak. Health care providers, on their own, are telling industry salespeople to stay away, according to some reports. The impact on product revenue, if any, is hard to predict, said Brian Abrahams, a biotech analyst at RBC Capital. People with HIV or cystic fibrosis are not going to stop taking their medicines, but that’s not necessarily true for people with less serious diseases, especially with the coronavirus compelling people to stay home or showing reluctance to travel to health care facilities. Companies with recently approved drugs that are just starting commercial launches are also likely to encounter problems, he added. In its announcement Sunday, Amarin said it was too early to determine any impact on Vascepa revenue growth from the grounding of its salespeople. Vascepa sales have outperformed Wall Street expectations over the past four quarters, but “obviously the near-term will be impacted and we assume scripts and sales will flatten or possibly decline since patient volumes and doctor and pharmacy visits will decline,” said Yee, the Jefferies biotech analyst. “But like other companies, investors will likely be giving a pass to sales results for now and the stock already reflects this given the large pullback.” Amarin shares are down 42% this year, with the selling accelerating since late February as the coronavirus outbreak accelerated globally.
