LEDERLE’s 500-REP ADVANTUS PHARMACEUTICALS SALES FORCE

LEDERLE's 500-REP ADVANTUS PHARMACEUTICALS SALES FORCE boosts the company's total detailing force by 50% to over 1,000 reps. Lederle announced March 10 that the new Advantus Pharmaceuticals sales force began detailing to physicians and pharmacists in mid- February. Advantus reps report to the same management team that directs Lederle Labs sales force. The founding of Advantus coincides with Lederle's introduction of the ProStep transdermal nicotine smoking cessation patch. ProStep, which is manufactured by the Irish firm Elan, gained FDA approval on Jan. 28 and was available across the country by mid-February ("The Pink Sheet" Feb. 3, T&G-2). Both the established Lederle sales force and the new Advantus force currently are detailing ProStep. The Advantus and Lederle Labs sales forces will "concentrate on different therapeutic areas in the Lederle product line," the company said, shifting their respective areas of focus according to market trends, new product introductions or seasonal product needs. By divvying up a shifting array of products, Lederle can double-detail physicians and pharmacists to reinforce the Lederle products message. The company noted that while each sales force focuses on particular products, all its reps are also familiar with the entire product line. The company's 1,000 reps are split equally between the two sale forces. The approximately 300 newly-hired representatives joined both the Lederle and Advantus forces and some experienced Lederle reps transferred to the new group. The hires are a mix of sales reps who have joined from other companies and new trainees. In a similar move, Ciba-Geigy announced Feb. 1 that it had created a new 353-rep Basel Pharmaceuticals Division sales force that began detailing four products in early 1992 including the Habitrol nicotine patch, approved on Nov. 27 ("The Pink Sheet" Feb. 3, T&G-2).