Fred Hassan is a shrewed corporate executive and he's been winning more corporate battles than most of his peers.
He is also a man with luck.
His biggest luck may have been to be forced out of Pharmacia by Pfizer when Pharmacia was on top of the world and then land at Schering as that company fought bad news, investigations, and furious share holders.
Pharmacia's new products under Pfizer management fulfilled few of the promises Hassan made at the time.
So now when the storm has caught up with Mr. Hassan--after Schering and Merck, using all kinds of excuses, refused releasing a pivotal trial for two years--it may just reveal Hassan's stamina.
And anyone who thinks Hassan would release the disastrous trial results without a carefully orchestrated media plan is a fool and doesn't know Hassan's skill at manipulating the media.
True to the high expectations one should have of Hassan in this situation, he let the media stew for a day and then the counter offensive was launched with Wall Street analysts, media pundits and credible scientific organizations telling the world the "study didn't matter."
The American College of Cardiology issued a statement urging docs and patients not to panic over the results of the controversial Vytorin trial.
The American Heart Association issued a similar statement.
Tim Anderson, an analyst at Sanford Bernstein, then wrote that “the two biggest organizations representing cardiovascular medicine have now weighed in on the matter, in support of Vytorin."
This all sounds like a well played orchestra and Big Media is leaping it up.
The ACC statement was issued in response to numerous queries from docs, nurses and the media, according to an ACC spokeswoman. Among those involved was Roger Blumenthal, a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, who chairs the ACC’s committee on prevention of cardiovascular disease. Blumenthal is also on the speaker’s bureau for Merck and Schering-Plough, and has received unspecified research grants from Merck, according to Pharmalot.
The data were “in line with investor expectations,” wrote Cowen analyst Steve Scala. “We believe … the impact on Schering-Plough and Merck stocks to be minimal.”
Sanford Bernstein’s Tim Anderson claimed that in “isolation, the results probably would have led to a share price rise … but largely due to negative comments from prominent cardiologist Steve Nissen, share prices declined … All industry experts we corresponded with, however, felt that [Nissen’s] description of the results was overly dramatic.”
So one guy - Dr. Nissen - single handedly dropped Schering stock over 10% according Sanford Bernstein.
Seriously?!
Then comes the news that "Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said Wednesday disappointing data from a late-stage study of the cholesterol drug Vytorin won't affect ratings for Schering-Plough Corp. and Merck & Co."
And while this spin is flooding Big Media while their accounts jitterly hopes for more Schering ad dollars, only CBS brought up the potential insider trading issues.
Amzing performance, and my hat is off to Mr. Hassan.
He truly is THE SPINMEISTER.
As for Big Media: Shame on you.
Psychological methods include cognitive therapy, meditation, and positive thinking which work by reducing response to stress. Improving relevant skills and abilities builds confidence, which also reduces the stress reaction to situations where those skills are applicable.
Posted by: Buy Generic Viagra | April 08, 2010 at 05:43 PM