Shire enlists GSK in Vyvanse push

Pump up the volume: Shire has enlisted the help of GlaxoSmithKline in growing the U.S. market for Vyvanse. The ADHD drug, Shire's follow-up-slash-replacement for its blockbuster attention deficit treatment Adderall, currently has about 12 percent of the U.S. market; with Glaxo's help, analysts say, the drug could add $500 million to its predicted 2014 revenues of $1.3 billion.

That's a big chunk of change--a chunk that's key to Shire's future sales growth. 

Glaxo has agreed to start helping Shire push Vyvanse in May. The three-year profit-sharing agreement will more than double the reach and frequency of Shire's current sales support of the drug. More than 600 Glaxo reps will be detailing the med to specialists and primary care docs. Shire hopes to introduce Vyvanse to 70,000 new physicians, Forbes reports.

What are the benefits to Glaxo? A Raymond James analyst told Forbes that adding Vyvanse to the Glaxo menu would keep existing sales reps busy, for one thing. (And given the spate of rep layoffs, the Glaxo sales folks will be glad to hear this news.) For another, Glaxo's CNS franchise has dimmed recently, so teaming with Shire helps fill that gap till new CNS drugs come online. 

- check out the Shire release
- get the news at Sharecast
- read the Forbes article

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