Physicians in Europe Rate Novartis #1 on Service Delivery, While Merck Earns Top Honors...( Even Among Companies Doing Well Relat...)

Even Among Companies Doing Well, Relationships Weaken in Many Countries

NEW YORK, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- New TNS Healthcare research shows that physicians in four out of the five major European countries -- the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy -- give Novartis top marks for effectively delivering key sales and service activities. Merck takes the top spot in the US and ties with Novartis in the UK and Germany. In 2008, Merck and Novartis tied for the top spot in the US, with the highest ratings across all service activities. This year, Merck pulls ahead in the US, with stronger ratings for both its Web-based physician services and its patient information programs.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090217/NY70978)

Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sanofi-Aventis and GlaxoSmithKline also earn high marks for their service model from physicians across the US and Europe. Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline tie for second place in the US, pulling ahead of Novartis, which places third this year among American doctors. In addition, Pfizer ties for first place in the UK and Germany. GlaxoSmithKline also is among the companies tying for a first place finish in the UK. It ties with Novartis for top honors in Italy. Sanofi-Aventis leads all of its competitors in France, becoming the sole first-place winner. It also ties for the top spot in the UK and Germany.

"We saw several fascinating trends in how physicians rate companies for their service delivery this year," said Andrew Brana, Senior Global Consultant, Sales Force Optimization for TNS Healthcare. "For example, in the UK, 10 of the 17 companies we measure tie for first place, with top ratings across all service areas. Unfortunately, this does not indicate a high level of performance across the board. Rather, it shows that companies are undifferentiated in the UK market. T
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