Sales manager is fired after comments hit Web

AstraZeneca P.L.C., the pharmaceutical giant with U.S. headquarters near Wilmington, summarily fired a regional sales director from Kennett Square yesterday after his avaricious advice for salespeople found its way to the Internet.

Michael Zubillaga, 50, made the comments in an internal Oncology Newsletter, published by and for employees at AstraZeneca's Mid-Atlantic Business Center in Wayne.

In a Q&A section of the newsletter's winter edition, Zubillaga is quoted as stating three sales goals for calling on cancer doctors' offices for 2007. His goal No. 3:

"Call Execution - Not making the calls you are supposed to make does not drive your business. I see it like this: There is a big bucket of money sitting in every office. Every time you go in, you reach your hand in the bucket and grab a handful. The more times you are in, the more money goes in your pocket. Every time you make a call, you are looking to make more money."

Little in the statement would surprise salespeople, their critics, or, for that matter, most physicians they call on. And Zubillaga did, at another point, don the industry's standard patients-first mantle: "Hold your doctors accountable for the data we have, so that patients are getting the best treatment."

Still, the low-level manager's comments in a company newsletter, no less one dealing with cancer, quickly made waves on the Internet after industry bloggers Peter Rost and Ed Silverman published them.

In a statement yesterday evening, the company said Zubillaga had been fired.

"AstraZeneca strongly repudiates the negative comments made in this newsletter," the statement said. "This newsletter was produced outside of AstraZeneca's required approval and review processes."

Messages left for Zubillaga at his home and work were not returned.

AstraZeneca spokeswoman Kirsten Evraire said Zubillaga was fired not for actual improper conduct, but for his comments, which violated the company's "robust compliance program that calls for responsible sales and marketing practices and conduct."

"All of our sales representatives are trained under these guidelines," the statement said. "We will reiterate with employees the importance of adhering to the highest ethical standards and all our compliance policies."

Asked whether Zubillaga was fired for merely speaking his mind, Evraire said: "Our statement speaks to everything we have to say about the situation."

Zubillaga's comments lighted up several blogs and chat boards on the Internet, some condemning Zubillaga for propagating a negative image and others complimenting him for speaking the truth - even while predicting he would be fired for it.

"Crass, but some may well be motivated by such imagery," Silverman said in a post on his blog Pharmalot.com. "Of course, many docs know that's what the sales teams think of them. That's why some docs hold out for expensive meals, nice trips, and good seats to good games, and why others won't let the sales rep past reception."

AstraZeneca employs about 4,500 throughout the Philadelphia-Wilmington region.