GlaxoSmithKline, today, announced that it is restructuring its US pharmaceutical sales organization. The plan will include elimination of 1,800 sales rep positions by year end. The cuts will affect approximately 1,000 employees and an undetermined number of support staff.

A spokesperson told Pharm Exec that some reps will be moved to the company’s expanding vaccine sales group. Additionally, GSK will be designating its North Carolina location as its sole headquarters.

While some pharma companies are moving to a geographic sales structure, GSK chose to reorganize reps by therapeutic areas. “In the past, some of our teams were organized by where they reported to, whether it be Philadelphia or Research Triangle Park,” GSK spokesperson Mary Anne Rhyne told Pharm Exec. “Geography is still a concern in terms of making sure that reps are in the right places in the country, but we think this plan will allow us to provide healthcare professionals with more of the specialized information that they are looking for.” (more…)

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Mark Herrmann, an attorney with Jones Day, co-proprietor of the Drug and Device Law blog, as well as an occasional contributor to Pharm Exec, has a lively review of Alison Bass’ Side Effects, a new book that tells the story of the campaign against Paxil.

His bottom line is a familiar one for journalists covering the pharmaceutical industry. He writes:

“Side Effects” belongs to a genre of investigative journalism that involves talking to plaintiffs, their lawyers and their expert witnesses, taking their stories as gospel and denigrating the opposing view because corporate money (apparently less pure than money from the plaintiffs’ side) supposedly has a corrupting effect.  (more…)