Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp: Redefining Success in the U.S. (A)

Over the course of a tumultuous weekend in April 2010, André Wyss was put in charge of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NPC), the U.S. sales and marketing subsidiary of Novartis Pharma AG. He was brought in at a critical point in the organization's evolution with a mandate to grow the specialty medications business; however, the skills and capabilities needed to market and sell specialty medications were considerably different than those required for marketing and selling primary care medications, which NPC had been quite successful doing. In 2011, the five-year revenue projections were revised significantly downward, and Wyss needed to cut costs while also building the organization's capabilities quickly in early 2012.