2014年12月10日讯 /生物谷BIOON/ --即便超级重磅药物LCZ696上市在即，仍不足以阻止诺华针对销售代表的裁员行动。诺华近日宣布，将裁掉200名初级保健医药代表，为LCZ696的上市做准备。诺华在一份声明中表示，将创建一支新的心血管突击队，负责该公司“最激动人心”的商业发射，人员组成大部分是一直工作于初级卫生保健领域的员工。
LCZ696是一种万众瞩目的心衰药物，在临床试验中疗效超越标准药物依那普利，并表现出更高的安全性。LCZ696的杰出表现，使该药成为过去10年中，心脏病学领域最重要的进展之一。业界纷纷预测，LCZ696将成为超级重磅明星，上市后将迅速被临床医生接纳并取得一鸣惊人的成绩，销售峰值将超过60亿美元，并且未来数年，心血管领域将无任何药物能与LCZ696抗衡。
不过，诺华表示，尽管LCZ696发射在即，新的心血管队伍也不需要如此多的销售代表。诺华认为，心血管专科医生会快速接纳并处方LCZ696，这也意味着不需要像初级保健医生处方药物时所需的强大销售支持水平。诺华发言人在一份电子邮件声明中表示，公司预计的心衰药LCZ696销售人员需求要少于之前在初级保健中的人员需求，所以要裁掉一些人员。
诺华计划裁员200名员工并去掉一些空缺职位，共计花名册减少243个职位。诺华表示，已通知了计划裁掉的员工，这些员工将会收到一笔遣散费并获得职业介绍服务，并可以申请诺华的其他职位。
近年来，诺华一直在进行重大重组以专注于自己的优势业务并放弃弱势业务，在出售一些单元的同时通过并购加强其他单元。今年10月，诺华在美国的运营废除了以前的销售结构，创建了3个基于疾病的单元，其中一个单元专注于心血管和呼吸系统产品，新的心血管突击队就是该单元的一部分。
关于心衰药物LCZ696：
LCZ696是一种双效血管紧张素受体脑啡肽酶抑制剂，具有独特的作用模式，被认为能够减少衰竭心脏的应变。LCZ696结合了诺华的高血压药物代文（Diovan，通用名：缬沙坦）和实验性药物AHU-377。AHU377可阻断威胁负责降低血压的2种多肽的作用机制，Diovan则可改善血管舒张，刺激身体排泄钠和水。
在里程碑III期PARADIGM-HF研究中，在数个关键终点，LCZ696均显著优越于心衰标准治疗药物ACE抑制剂依那普利（enalapril），数据具有高度统计学显著差异和临床重要性。横跨各治疗组，LCZ696从治疗早期便表现出了可持续的治疗利益：（1）心血管疾病死亡风险降低20%（p=0.00004）；（2）心脏衰竭住院率降低21%（p=0.00004）；（3）全因死亡风险降低16%（p=0.0005）；（4）总体而言，综合衡量心血管死亡或心脏衰竭住院主要终点，风险降低20%（p=0.0000002）。安全性方面，LCZ696表现出了超越常规药物的更高安全性。
英文原文：Novartis lays off 200 primary care reps as it preps for megablockbuster LCZ696 rollout
Even a megablockbuster launch isn't enough to save Novartis ($NVS) sales reps targeted for job cuts. The company is laying off 200 primary care sales folks in New Jersey as it rejigs its sales operation and prepares to launch LCZ696, a hotly anticipated heart failure drug.
Novartis is creating a new cardiovascular commando unit, staffing it mostly with employees who'd been working in its primary-care field force, the company said in a statement. That new CV field force will be handling the company's "most exciting launch" ever, in the words of Novartis pharma chief David Epstein, assuming LCZ696 wins FDA approval. Armed with some unprecedented data in heart failure, the drug is poised to soar to blockbuster sales, analysts figure, with some estimates putting peak sales above $6 billion.
But the new CV unit won't need quite as many people on the ground, even with the big rollout coming. Specialists will be prescribing LCZ696, so it won't need the same level of sales support as a drug handled by primary-care doctors. "[O]ur anticipated needs in heart failure do not line up exactly with our previous needs in primary care so some positions are being eliminated," spokeswoman Julie Masow said in an emailed statement.
The company is laying off 200 workers and cutting some vacant positions to reduce its roster by 243 jobs. The employees who'll lose their jobs have already been notified. They'll receive severance pay and outplacement services, and can apply for other jobs elsewhere in Novartis, the company said.
The Swiss drugmaker has been restructuring to focus on its strengths and bail out of weaker businesses, selling off some units while building up others via M&A. In October, the company's U.S. operation scrapped its previous sales structure to create three disease-based units, including one focused on cardiovascular and respiratory products. The new CV field force is part of that unit.