Shire doubles size of US sales force

Release Date: 2009-04-01

Shares in the UK drugmaker rose after the announcement regarding the additional sales representatives, following an agreement with GSK that will increase the marketing of its hyperactivity drugs

Shares in Shire rose by as much as 7 per cent on Tuesday, after the drugmaker announced a doubling of the size of its US sales force, following a deal with pharmaceutical giant Glaxosmithkline, that will increase the marketing of hyperactivity drugs to adults.

The agreement will add 600 US sales representatives from GSK, who in addition to selling Glaxo drugs will co-promote Shire’s Vyvanse drug, adding to the 600 of Shire’s own employees that are already marketing the drug.

Vyvanse is Shire’s newest drug for the treatment of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, and its sales have quadrupled over the past year to $319m. Although launched in 2007 for use in adolescents and children, Vyvanse has now been approved for use in adults. Because its effects last longer than those of Adderall, it can be taken in the morning before work and last until the early evening.

“This will give us the ability to raise the awareness of ADHD further in the adult population in the US,” said Graham Hetherington, chief financial officer of Shire.

“Our sales force has been focused behind specialists in the paediatric area and this is where Shire and GSK are completely complementary. Their sales force of around 600 reps focus primarily on adult specialists in the primary care sector, so the two are entirely complementary.”

Shire is hoping that Vyvanse will at least partially compensate for declining sales of Adderall, which due to a patent challenge will face generic competition starting today. Last year, Adderall accounted for a third of the company’s $3bn in annual revenues.

Type:	NORMAL
Url:	http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fd562a30-1ddb-11de-830b-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss