The Roche ceo is something of a sales rep these days as he single-handedly pushes the pandemic product. “The threat of a global influenza pandemic is as real as ever,” he tells The Star-Ledger of New Jersey (which owns Pharmalot). “I’m sure a lot of people think it could never happen, but all you have to do is talk to the folks at the National Institutes of Health to realize it could happen. With air travel, it will move around the world faster than it ever did in 1918.”

Speaking of air travel, George regularly briefs business groups and other companies on why they should stock up. Tonight, for instance, he’s traveling to Tennessee to make his pitch to The Economic Club of Memphis. Only one problem, the paper writes: “As scary as Abercrombie’s words may sound, they have done little to push up sales.” As Jo Walton, a pharma analyst with Lehman Brothers, notes, “What they’ve found is people are talking about it, but no one is buying it.”

Well, actually, $1.2 billion in sales were notched last year, according to Verispan. And George apparently did keep his word to increase production, following numerous complaints. One former critic, Jeff Levi, who heads the not-for-profit Trust for America, says the “commitments were critical to building the American stockpile.” So Roche has a bigger inventory, but could still use higher sales. Maybe George should stop using scare tactics and ask a smooth-talking celeb like Sally Fields - who already pitches Boniva - to tape some feel-good ads.