In Pursuit of Primary Care, Schering-Plough Is Growing against the Grain

The marketing deal between Schering-Plough and Bayer gives Schering additional products it can sell along with its recently approved cholesterol drug Vytorin, and a significant number of reps to help it do so. As such, the deal reinforces Schering's commitment to building a primary care franchise. But it also runs counter to an emerging trend among many Big Pharmas to focus increasingly on higher-value specialist markets, which do not require a huge sales and marketing infrastructure--or the regular flow of new primary-care products necessary to support it.