GLAXO TO ESTABLISH CNS SALES AND MARKETING DIVISION

GLAXO TO ESTABLISH CNS SALES AND MARKETING DIVISION as part of a broader corporate reorganization effective Jan. 1, 1992. The move creates an arm of the company's pharmaceutical business in the U.S. that will be specifically devoted to the products beginning to emerge from Glaxo's brain receptor R&D pipeline, led by Zofran (ondansetron) and Imitrex (sumatriptan). Glaxo has at least a half-dozen migraine/CNS drugs in various stages of development. The anti-emetic Zofran apparently has caught on very quickly in the marketplace. One major Ohio hospital recently noted that the product represents almost 3% of its total drug budget in its first year on the market. The pending Imitrex launch will entail a major campaign to build awareness about the treatment of migraines. The company has four "5-HT-1-like" products in development for the treatment of migraine: GR-40370, GR-57426, and GR-85548 and GR-127607. GR-68755 is in Phase II testing for schizophrenia and cognitive disorders; Fluparoxan, which the company recently dropped as an antidepressive, is still being studied for male sexual dysfunction ("The Pink Sheet" Dec. 16, p. 18). GI-87084, an opioid analgesic in Phase I testing for use in general anesthesia, may also fit into the new division. The CNS group will be part of the Glaxo Pharmaceutical Unit, to be headed by Group VP Robert Ingram. The Pharmaceutical Unit also will contain a Pharmaceuticals Sales and Marketing Division, to be led by VP and General Manager Robert Zeiger and a Corporate Sales Division to be headed by VP and General Manager James Butler. The chief of the new CNS division has not yet been named. Staffing for the new division will be handled by transfers from existing sales groups and new hires. The Pharmaceutical Unit is one of three new "strategic business units" (SBUs) at Glaxo. The company's Allen & Hanburys division will become The Allen & Hanburys Unit, to be headed by Thomas D'Alonzo as group VP. That group will consist of the Allen & Hanburys Sales and Marketing Division and the Glaxo Dermatology Sales and Marketing Division, which will continue to be headed by VP and general managers Ronald Stanton and Richard Franco, respectively. The Glaxo Technical Operations SBU, which will consist of "manufacturing and packaging, materials management, engineering, and quality assurance functions," will be headed by Clifford Disbrow, senior VP of technical operations. The heads of the three SBUs will report directly to Glaxo Inc. CEO Charles Sanders. Glaxo's reorganization comes almost exactly a year after an earlier shuffle that made Ingram head of sales and marketing and D'Alonzo head of operations ("The Pink Sheet" Jan. 14, T&G-2). D'Alonzo will be assuming responsibility for one of the two major parts of the Glaxo drug business in the states. Some of his previous internal functions apparently will be taken over by Disbrow. Other end-of-the-year title changes include: Santo Costa, former senior VP, general counsel and secretary, to senior VP, administration and general counsel; Gary Freedman, former VP and deputy general counsel, to VP, deputy general counsel and secretary; and Thomas Cecich who will move from director of safety and environmental affairs to VP of that department.