PARIS -- (Marketwire) -- 09/07/10 -- Cegedim Strategic Data, leading provider of integrated healthcare research, announces the results of its international Rep Quality Survey.

As emerging markets remain a focus area for growth for the pharmaceutical industry, CSD conducted an international survey during the first quarter of 2010 to benchmark rep quality across strategic countries of interest including Brazil, Russia, India and China. To place these results in perspective, the survey also included the major markets: USA, Top 5 Europe and Japan. CSD will conduct this survey annually to analyse evolution in rep quality as assessed by physicians.

The following four criteria were used: Objective and Ethical Behaviour, Quality of Medical Information Provided, Professional Relationship and Presentation Useful and Adapted to the physicians' practice.

Leveraging CSD's continuous panels of some 30,000 healthcare professionals worldwide participating daily, the current study focused on over 4,000 physicians (an average of 200 primary care and 200 secondary care in each country). Physicians were asked to rank the leading three companies by the above criteria according to their experience and perception.

Some highlights from the study reveal that Galderma, Amgen and Daiichi Sankyo in the USA ranked consistently among the top five companies across all four measures among all interviewed doctors.

In Europe, Wyeth, Novartis and Italian drug maker Recordati were among the leading companies in overall scoring.

When Chinese specialists were asked about objective and ethical behaviour, the leading companies included domestic player Yangtze River along with GlaxoSmithKline, MSD and Pfizer.

In Russia, Johnson & Johnson, Schering Plough and Lilly scored highest overall, across all criteria. In India, Mankind, Cipla, Lilly and Lupin ranked highest when physicians were queried about quality of professional relationship.

In Brazil, Eurofarma, GlaxoSmithKline and Bayer scored best among secondary care specialists, while in Japan, when asked about quality of information provided, primary care doctors gave Tsumura, GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Takeda and Shionogi the best marks.

"This international study reveals some very interesting results when comparing sales force quality within and across these key markets. Rep quality in emerging markets is of particular interest. In China, Brazil and India the domestic players are among the leading companies," commented Christopher Wooden, CSD's Director of Global Sales and Marketing.

CSD has been measuring physician perception of sales force activity since 1977. In addition to tracking sales force detailing and Rx intent, CSD audits marketing channel spend, conducts company specific detail follow up (DFU) or "recall tests" and reputation measurement surveys. CSD conducted over 400 such studies in 2009 at both local and international levels.

About Cegedim Strategic Data:
CSD is a leading Market Research company dedicated to the healthcare industry and operating in more than 60 countries. With over 36 years experience in the Pharmaceutical industry, CSD offers a comprehensive range of market research services and solutions to its customers, which include more than 50 global and 500 local Pharmaceutical companies. CSD integrates primary and secondary analyses with its medical expertise to meet its customer's research needs. To learn more, please visit our website: www.cegedimstrategicdata.com

About Cegedim:
Founded in 1969, Cegedim is a global technology and services company specializing in the healthcare field. Cegedim supplies services, technological tools, specialized software, data flow management services and databases. Its offerings are targeted notably at healthcare industries, life sciences companies, healthcare professionals and insurance companies. The world leader in life sciences CRM, Cegedim is also one of the leading suppliers of strategic healthcare industry data. Cegedim employs 8,600 people in more than 80 countries and generated revenue of EUR 874 million in 2009. Cegedim SA is listed in Paris (EURONEXT: CGM). To learn more, please visit: www.cegedim.com