Over the past few years, the concept of “New Commercial Model” (NCM) has rapidly progressed from novel idea to overused buzzword in the pharmaceutical industry as leading companies strive to adapt their sales and marketing infrastructures to changing market realities. However, the record of accomplishment so far has generally not matched either the grandiose language or the underlying need for change. Although several companies have shed a considerable number of sales representatives, these moves have generally tracked
with the lifecycle trends for their product portfolios. True innovation has been limited and even then, much of what companies have conceived in the design phase has not translated into effective implementation.