NEW YORK – Pfizer Inc. unveiled plans Tuesday to reduce its U.S. sales organization by about 20 percent, an acknowledgement that its current model for marketing drugs to doctors has become too expensive.
The company said that despite the cuts, it would maintain “strong support” for big sellers Lipitor and Celebrex, as well as for important new products such as Lyrica and Chantix, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Pfizer announced in mid-October that it would undertake a comprehensive review of its operations. In January, Pfizer plans to present a long-term outlook and additional actions.
“The changes we are making today will better align our sales organization to our overall customer and business needs. This is an important step toward making Pfizer a more agile and effective company,” said Jeffrey Kindler, Pfizer’s chief executive, in a statement.
Kindler has been on a stealthy charm offensive since taking over for Henry “Hank” McKinnell earlier this year. In what amounts to a Wall Street listening tour, he has met privately with analysts and large shareholders to ask for their ideas on what he should do with Pfizer.
Last month, Pfizer posted solid quarterly results, fed by brisk sales of some medicines that fared better against generics than had been expected — though it warned that tougher times lie ahead. Lipitor, the New York company’s blockbuster cholesterol drug, held up well against a new generic competitor; antidepressant Zoloft benefited from a delay in the launch of a generic version.
