Du Pont combines medical businesses; offers menu for multi-hospital groups

Du Pont has unified its two major medical businesses in an effortto show a common face to customers and better approach large multi-hospitalcustomers, according to John H. Landon, newly appointed vice presidentand general manager of Du Pont medical products.

Additionally, Du Pont has shifted a corporate health-care accountsmarketing group into the medical products organization. This marketinggroup will approach large multi-hospital chains with all Du Ponthealth-care products, including contrast agents and other pharmaceuticalsproduced by Du Pont Merck Pharmaceuticals, a joint-venture company.Du Pont Merck products will continue to be sold by that company'sseparate sales force, Landon told SCAN.

Landon had been vice president and general manager of diagnosticsand biotechnology systems for Du Pont. He continues to be responsiblefor these clinical chemistry and biotechnology systems, but hisauthority has been expanded to include medical film and electronicdiagnostic imaging products. Jerome M. Smith, former vice presidentand general manager for diagnostic imaging, now heads up the company'sprinting and publishing business.

"We combined those two groups into one medical productsunit, which includes all of the medical products businesses inDu Pont with (annual) sales of over $1.2 billion," Landonsaid. "Now we have a totally integrated unit. It providesa powerful force in the marketplace that ties together joint programsto meet customer needs."

Landon ran Du Pont's x-ray film business from 1982 to 1988,when Smith took over. One change he has noted in the medical imagingbusiness is the growing power of group-purchasing organizationsand large hospital chains.

"There is no question that multi-hospital groups havebecome a more important factor in the imaging business,"Landon said.

Du Pont underwent a major corporate restructuring last fallwith the goal of reducing worldwide costs in imaging systems andmedical products by $200 million annually. About 1750 positionsin the U.S. medical businesses were targeted for elimination.Most of the medical products positions that were eliminated relatedto manufacturing rather than research or sales and marketing,Landon said.

"That is part of an effort under way for the last coupleof years aimed at improved efficiencies and productivity at ourmanufacturing operations in the U.S.," he said.

Du Pont's year-long alliance with 3M in medical film developmentand manufacturing (SCAN 12/12/90) was less an effort to cut coststhan an attempt to add products to both vendors' lines, accordingto Susan Krick-Linderman, business director for conventional medicalimaging.

"The 3M agreement was focused at opportunities we sawfor each to round out our offerings to the marketplace,"Krick-Linderman said. "We are sharing semi-finished (film)products and then finishing and selling each other's products.It (the cooperation with 3M) is focused at rounding out our productline and has been beneficial in that regard."