Pfizer Inc. may slash its 38,000-member sales and marketing staff by as much as 30%, or 11,400 employees.

Pfizer Inc., the world's biggest drugmaker, may cut as much as 30 percent of its 38,000-member sales force as it loses patent protection on several key drugs, according to Lehman Brothers analyst Tony Butler, who cited ``industry contacts.'' (Bloomberg, 2/8/2005)

According to a 12/20/2004 AP story:

New prescriptions for Pfizer Inc. pain reliever Celebrex have fallen by more than half since a government-led study linked the drug to an increased risk of heart and strokes two weeks ago. New prescriptions for Celebrex fell 56 percent to 70,760, according to Verispan. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requested that Pfizer stop advertising Celebrex but data from ImpactRx reveal that the company has intensified its sales calls to physicians. According to ImpactRx, 45 percent of sales representatives' visits to primary care doctors to discuss popular pain relievers were about Celebrex in the three days ended Dec. 20. For the three days ended Dec. 17, the day of the announcement, it was 35 percent. That increased to 55 percent in the three days ended Dec. 22

I guess you don't cut this deeply without a reason. Could it be that they are preparing for bad news about Celebrex in advance of next weeks FDA hearings?

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