Glaxo Reps Pound The Pavement For Avandia
3 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // August 8th, 2007 // 2:53 pm
Early last week, the FDA held a controversial advisory committee meeting to review the Avandia diabetes pill, which was linked to a 43 percent increase in the risk of heart attacks in a study in the New England Journal of Medicine. Despite urgings by some FDA staffers who thought the drug should be withdrawn, the panel recommended Avandia remain available, albeit with warnings and restrictions.
For Glaxo, that was a green light. As the chart indicates (click on the chart to make it bigger), the drugmaker wasted no time taking advantage of the outcome. On the day of the meeting, Avandia’s share of details to primary-care physicians was just 20 percent, according to ImpactRx, a market-research firm that maintains a network to track these interactions. By last Friday, August 3, however, Avandia’s share zoomed to 30 percent. That amounts to a 50 percent increase in just five days. That’s a lot of detailing. And it also underscores Glaxo’s determination to regain lost ground.
Thanks to ImpactRx for providing us with the chart.
John Mack
That chart is as clear as mud! Even when I enlarge it! Somebody needs to help ImpactRx with chart design — we’re only interested in Avnadia and Actos here. Eliminate the other data — also choose colors than we can easily distinguish from one another.
Or is it just me?
Meredith
It is indeed just you, I can read it perfectly then again I went to college..
Ed Silverman
John,
It may be your browser, or it may be the imperfect process used to replicate the chart for this site. But to their credit, the folks at ImpactRx sent me a clean graphic. My tech guy is on vacation this week, so I’m to blame for any difficulty here.
That said, I can read the words and numbers clearly when I click on the chart. The color-coded triangles are a bit fuzzy around the edges, but I can distinguish which color triangle is associated with each product and the appropriate market share.
Sorry you’re having problems. We do our best.
Cheers
ed