Amarin Slashes Greater than 50% of Gross sales Pressure in Digital Advertising and marketing Strategy
Irish-American biopharmaceutical company Amarin this week announced a new marketing strategy for its VASCEPA drug in the US, starting with reducing the number of salespeople by over 50%.
There are currently around 750 sales representatives for Amarin, whom the company wants to reduce to 300 as part of the more digital marketing approach. In one opinion, said Karim Mikhail, President and Chief Executive Officer of Amarin that the goal of this move is to maximize the effects of VASCEPA / VAZKEPA (icosapentethyl) in the US at a time when clinicians prefer to be more with patients over virtual ones Means to get in touch.
“Amarin is beginning a transformation towards a new, integrated go-to-market approach in the USA, thereby supporting our mission to provide access to VASCEPA for millions of untreated high-risk patients. We are seeing a dramatic shift in physician preferences. We are confident that with this new strategy we will drive US growth and the full potential of our first one-of-a-kind product as we move forward with our global strategic plan to create value for all shareholders, “said Mikhail.
Cardiovascular disease remains the number one killer worldwide, accounting for about 859,000 deaths each year in the US alone. Additionally, there are 605,000 new and 200,000 recurring heart attacks (or one every 40 seconds) annually, while the stroke rate is roughly one every 40 seconds. In total, there are over 2.4 million serious cardiac-related adverse events per year, or every 13 seconds on average.
The new approach will target a larger number of statin prescription users (nearly 700,000) through high-frequency, tailored, and impactful news about the drug’s benefits in reducing cardiovascular risk. By removing barriers to prescribing VASCEPA and preventing improper generic substitution for this indication, it will be easier to access the drug for patients in need of immediate therapy.
Currently, several large commercial and Medicare Part D payers are already covering the drug as an exclusive ICosapentethyl (IPE) product because of its low cost. Today, VASCEPA is the only Food and Drug Administration-approved IPE drug available for reducing cardiovascular risk.
VASCEPA was launched in the United States in January 2020 and has been prescribed over 10 million times since then. It is covered by most of the major health insurers. In addition to the United States, it is sold in Canada, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates. In March of this year it was also approved in Europe under the brand name VAZKEPA Market launch in Germany this month.
