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BLOG: Big pharma shuffles the dry eye deck
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One of my personal goals for this blog has been to raise awareness of the machinations of the eye care industry among my professional colleagues. Sometimes that entails offering a public “Good on ya” for a job well done (and an invitation for my colleagues to do likewise), and of course it occasionally calls for a bit of “poking the bear.” In truth, for me to consider this part of my self-proclaimed role a success, all I really need is for more of you to simply take an interest in who’s doing what and when at companies both big and small.
Along these lines there were a couple of pretty big personnel changes in the DED world. These new “hires” are noteworthy not only for the high-caliber individuals now on board, but they also tell us a little bit about the companies themselves. You could pretend to have a crystal ball and think ahead to what this means for you in your clinic.
Allergan has moved Jag Dosanjh from his position in running a part of their derm/cosmetics franchise and given him the reins to the entire eye care business. Jag joined Allergan at the time when new competitors to Botox were entering the market. Sound familiar? Under his stewardship, the Botox/anti-wrinkle market as a whole expanded dramatically, with Allergan growing slightly faster. His tactic? Relentless attention paid to the docs who do the work.
Meanwhile, over at Shire the rapid rise of Xiidra has opened up some room at the top. Bob Dempsey, the one-man band who launched Shire’s eye care unit 3 years ago, has been promoted to global head of all eye care. Shire of late has been successfully building its team with outside eye care talent. Filling in Bob’s slot is John Snisarenko, who most recently was running the retinal disease franchise for Genentech. As it turns out, John’s big product was Lucentis right around the time that Eylea entered the space. Once again, Lucentis kept right on growing as the larger space expanded. I see a pattern here.
These hires bode well for us in DED care. The Academy is right around the corner. Use our biggest meeting to take a moment to welcome Jag and John aboard and wish them well.
Disclosure: White reports he is a consultant for Bausch + Lomb, Allergan, Shire and Eyemaginations; is on the speakers board for Bausch + Lomb, Allergan and Shire; and has a financial interest in TearScience.