Vertex's Senior Vice President of Sales is no more...

The word on the street is that Joe Cozzolino the Senior VP of Sales for Vertex is no longer with the company as of today, 1/26/10 for reasons yet unknown. What does it mean for a company fully ensconced in the transition from a R&D company to a full-fledged commercial entity when one of the key strategists leaves the fold? The timing isn't terrific - Vertex is counting on a decision on the approval of it's HCV protease inhibitor Telaprevir on May 23rd with a June launch date. That's four months to scramble to fill a large leadership gap. If Vertex displays the agility it had in it's younger days, it can be done. If the organization succumbs to the corporate cultural flux and the internal inertia it's displayed in it's post Josh Boger-era, it would leave quite a bit of Vertex exposed to Merck's commercial prowess. Either way, this will certainly become a graduate school case study somewhere.