What Are Those Sales Reps Thinking?
Last week was an international cardiology meeting called ISHLT. It's mostly focused on heart and lung transplantation, but still is a prime opportunity for Scios/Johnson and Johnson to talk about nesiritide. As you recall, we recently published data that, together with a recent study by Dr. Steve Gottlieb of the University of Maryland, proves that the perception that nesiritide is good for the kidneys is simply untrue. In fact, the most comprehensive analysis (ours in the medical journal Circulation) says it is bad for kidney function.
So what were the reps saying about it? Well I wasn't there to hear it, but I was told by more than one person that they were dismissing the study. "It's only 5 studies..." and "It's just a meta-analysis..." were two statements heard. Amazing. How can someone take this view with a straight face? Here they have no data that says the drug is good for the kidneys, and two studies say it isn't, and they are asking the doctors visiting their booth to ignore the data?
Wow.
In time, those reps and the company as a whole, will not be able to ignore all the signals that say that nesiritide seems likely to be associated with risk.
Maybe then, they will act responsibly, and do what they should have done since 2001; study the drugs safety and efficacy in an appropriately powered study.
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