Healthy Skepticism Library item: 17182

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Publication type: news

Goldstein J
Pfizer’s China Strategy: ‘Feet On the Street,’ ‘Key Opinion Leaders’
The Wall Street Journal Blog 2010 Feb 3
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2010/02/03/pfizers-china-strategy-feet-on-the-street-key-opinion-leaders/

Full text:

Pfizer’s China strategy came up a few times today in the company’s earnings call with analysts.

In some ways, the approach sounds like pharma’s strategy in the U.S. a few years back, when the industry was swimming with sales reps and companies were aggressively wooing “key opinion leaders” – top physicians who could influence other docs.

Here’s how Ian Read, president of Pfizer’s drugs business, framed the Chinese market and Pfizer’s strategy in the country, according to a transcript from Thomson Reuters:

… in large part it is an out-of-pocket market, so brand loyalty and quality is really important. … our total portfolio is growing, and it is not as impacted as the United States or Europe is by [generic competition]. So this requires what I would call a traditional investment thesis, feet on the street, field force, relationships with physicians … invest with key opinion leaders
Last month, Pfizer said it planned to increase its sales force in China to 3,200, from about 2,300 now. That comes as the company makes some significant cuts to its total global workforce.

Plenty of drug makers are moving in this direction. Eli Lilly’s also hiring sales reps in China, and GlaxoSmithKline has been busy bulking up its sales force in “emerging and Asia Pacific markets,” according to the company’s CEO.

Dow Jones Newswires has more from Pfizer’s conference call.