CollaGenex's dental plan
CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. has found an untapped niche in marketing therapeutics to dentists. Based on the anticipated potential for its Periostat doxicycline, which was launched in January to treat adult periodontitis, the company has amassed a 125-person sales force to market the product to about 23,000 dentists. But a force this size does not come cheap, and CGPI's SG&A has ballooned to $11.8 million for the six months ended June 30 compared to $2.9 million for the same period in 1998.
With its marketing infrastructure in place, CGPI's task becomes growing its revenues. The company took a large step toward this goal through last week's deal to market Merck & Co. Inc.'s Vioxx rofecoxib, a COX-2 inhibitor to treat osteoarthritis and acute pain, to the dental market...