UPDATE: Bristol-Myers Cuts Abilify Sales Force By About 25%
October 16 2009 - 3:56PM
Dow Jones News
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) has eliminated about 25% of its
sales force for the antipsychotic drug Abilify, a spokesman for the
drug maker said Friday.
The job cuts resulted from an evaluation the New York drug maker
conducted after it extended its co-marketing pact with Otsuka Corp.
(4768.TO) for Abilify earlier this year, spokesman Brian Henry
said, calling the move a "better deployment of our resources."
Otsuka, however, made a commensurate increase in its Abilify
sales force, so there was effectively no reduction in the overall
Abilify sales force, a Bristol spokeswoman said.
Henry declined to specify how many jobs were cut by
Bristol-Myers Squibb, saying the size of its Abilify sales force
was proprietary. Bristol had about 35,000 employees at the end of
last year.
Most major drug companies have steadily reduced their sales
forces in recent years to save costs and address doctors'
complaints that they were being bombarded by too many sales
representatives.
Bristol recorded $1.2 billion in Abilify sales for the six
months ended June 30, making it the second best-selling Bristol
drug behind blood thinner Plavix.
The Bristol job cuts were reported earlier by Bloomberg
News.
-By Peter Loftus, Dow Jones Newswires; 215-656-8289;
peter.loftus@dowjones.com