SCHERING OTC CONSOLIDATION MOVE: EX-J&J VICE CHAIRMAN DAVID COLLINS is joining Schering to head the U.S. OTC business group. Collins, who left the second spot in the J&J management hierarchy at the beginning of 1988, is joining Schering-Plough as corporate exec VP to head a new $ 600 mil. volume business unit which combines Schering Labs' OTC brands and Plough's personal care products. The consolidation of the company's OTC products is designed to take advantage of the "growing number of Rx-to-OTC ]switch[ possibilities and access to new technologies inside and outside the company," Schering Chairman Robert Luciano said in a Sept. 7 announcement. The most visible Schering Rx-to-OTC switch project is the coordinated effort with Marion to move Carafate (sucralfate) OTC for an undetermined gastric upset indication. Schering has maintained that project is continuing, unaffected by the ongoing Marion-Merrell Dow merger. Schering's Luciano points to the antihistamine and dermatological classes as ripe switch areas for Schering to pursue. Schering also has major prescription brands in the asthma category, Proventil (albuterol tabs and inhaler), and Theo-Dur (theophylline), which could be pursued as switch candidates. Albuterol especially may be ready for a switch effort based on its expiring patent later this year. "The ever-increasing importance of our OTC and health products to the corporation warrant the creation of a single strategic business unit containing all the resources required to market these products successfully both to health professionals and directly to the consumer," Luciano commented. He projected 10% annual growth for the new group, which currently accounts for 20% ($ 600 mil.) of the company's $ 3 bil. volume. As a 26-year Johnson & Johnson veteran and former vice-chairman, Collins has experience in both the OTC/consumer products area as well as prescription drugs. Collins was responsible for J&J's more than $ 2 bil. volume consumer products business in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In the early part of the decade, Collins was head of McNeil Consumer (during the heated period of the first Tylenol cyanide scare) and has been active in the OTC industry trade association, the NDMA (Nonprescription Drug Manufacturers Association). He will report to Schering President Richard Kogan. For Collins, the new position means a move back to direct operating responsibility from his last general management position at J&J. Collins will have a group of Schering and Plough (personal care group) VPs reporting to him (see box). Schering says that the reorganization is for strategic rather than efficiency reasons. The company maintains that it will not reduce its workforce as a result of the new structure. The emphasis on the word "strategic" may indicate a future change in the status of the Maybelline part of the business (see related story below). Collins joins Schering-Plough from a brief experience in the venture capital field. He was one of the principals in Galen Partners, a risk capital fund for small-to mid-sized health care firms formed in Sept. 1988. Galen, which is affiliated with the New York City Wilkerson Group consulting firm, is searching for a replacement for Collins. The fund currently has $ 50 mil. in capital and is negotiating several deals, Galen said. Schering's OTC products include Afrin nasal spray, Coricidin and Drixoral cold and decongestant tablets, Chlor-Trimeton antihistamine and Tinactin antifungal. Brands previously handled by the Personal Care Group are Coppertone, Shade, Tropical Blend, Water Babies and Solarcaine sun care products; Dr. Scholl's foot care; Correctol and Feen-a-mint laxatives, Mexsana medicated powder, Di-Gel antacid tablets and Duration nasal spray. SCHERING's OTC BUSINESS EXEC GROUP A group of seven execs at Schering and the Personal Care Group ]Plough[ will report to Schering-Plough' new recruit, David Collins. Richard Carlsen, Schering-Plough VP-Finance and Planning Consumer Operations Fred Fritz, Senior VP sales & marketing, Schering John Clayton, Senior VP scientific/regulatory, Personal Care Group Gerry Nobrega, Senior VP marketing/advertising, Personal Care Group Gordon McDaniel, VP-business development, Personal Care Group Ed McManic, VP-operations, Personal Care Group Ray Modjeski, VP-sales, Personal Care Group.
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