Healthy Skepticism Library item: 7119

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Adolor laying off sales force
Yahoo Finance 2006 Dec 14
http://biz.yahoo.com/bizj/061214/1389894.html?.v=1

Abstract:

Adolor Corp. said Thursday it plans to disband its sales force of 35 people and eliminate 17 other positions because of delays in getting approval for its lead new drug candidate.
The Exton, Pa., biopharmaceutical company established its sales force early last year in anticipation of launching Entereg, its experimental treatment for the management of postoperative ileus — a bowel disorder commonly experienced by patients after surgery.

“Decisions of this nature are always difficult,” said David Madden, Adolor’s chairman. “But after evaluating the anticipated timeline for regulatory action on Entereg, we concluded that it would be difficult to retain and motivate our sales force without a product to detail during this period.”

Overall, the number of Adolor (NASDAQ:ADLR – News) employees will be reduced to 128 from 180.

The Food and Drug Administration issued approvable letters for Entereg in 2005 and again last month, but final approval is on hold pending the submission of additional clinical trial safety data by Adolor and marketing partner GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK – News).

Adolor’s sales force has been marketing GlaxoSmithKline’s anti-thrombotic agent, Arixtra, under a co-promotion agreement that expires Dec. 31.

Michael R. Dougherty, who was just named Adolor’s CEO, said the company is preparing to submit a complete response to the recent approvable letter in the second quarter of next year.

Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline is based in London and has a U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia.