NovaBay Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focusing on commercializing prescription Avenova for the domestic eyecare market, announced that it is reducing its U.S. sales force and has made leadership changes.
It will go from 45 to 15 field sales representatives, according to a press release.
NovaBay said the cuts were part of “a strategic shift to deploy its sales representatives only in high-performing territories and territories it has identified as having significant prescription volume potential along with favorable health plan coverage to support Avenova per-unit revenue.”
The company said it would “continue to focus on contracting with additional specialty pharmacies as channel partners, which provide quality patient experiences at a negotiated price per prescription.”
In addition, NovaBay made the following personnel changes, all effective immediately:
- Lead independent Director Paul E. Freiman, who joined the company’s board of directors in 2002, has been named chairman. Former Chairman Mark M. Sieczkarek will continue to serve as a director of the company.
- Interim President and CEO, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Jack McGovern has resigned from the company.
- Senior Vice President and General Counsel Justin Hall, who has been with the company since 2013, has assumed the positions of interim president and CEO. He will continue to serve as the company’s general counsel and corporate compliance officer.
- Corporate Controller Jason Raleigh, who joined NovaBay in 2016, has assumed the positions of interim chief financial officer and treasurer.
“It is highly gratifying to have two qualified and seasoned professionals in Justin Hall and Jason Raleigh, both with NovaBay tenure, step into these key positions,” said Freiman. “We are highly appreciative of Mark Sieczkarek’s many contributions to our company as Chairman, in addition to his former roles as President and CEO. We are delighted that he will continue serving as a member of our Board.
“We appreciate the support of our current major stockholders who have pledged additional financial resources as we execute on our strategy.”
“We affirm our assertion that Avenova is the best product available to topically treat chronic bacterial infections that affect approximately 85% of the dry eye market,” said Hall. “Given the current reimbursement environment, we are pursuing a cost-efficient growth strategy by only deploying high-performing sales representatives in our best-producing and highest potential prescription volume territories while securing additional relationships within the specialty pharmacy channel. We expect this new strategy to accelerate our path to profitability. We thank the 37 employees who are leaving NovaBay as of March 15, 2019, and look forward to implementing our new U.S. commercial strategy for Avenova.”