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MiddleBrook Pharmaceuticals of Germantown made another move last week in its drive to ramp up marketing efforts to take the company to the next level.

Following a $100 million infusion this fall and the addition of new key executives, MiddleBrook announced last week it has retained national account firm VCG & Associates of Holliston, Mass., to serve as its "strategic and tactical managed care partner."

VCG will help MiddleBrook, which is focused on developing and commercializing anti-infection products, with product pricing and reimbursement, contract administration, national account management and government account coverage, according to MiddleBrook information.

This latest development comes as the company continues its shift from research and development toward an aggressive marketing posture.

"VCG & Associates has mirrored MiddleBrook's excitement regarding the upcoming launch of Moxatag, the first and only [Food and Drug Administration]-approved once-daily amoxicillin," MiddleBrook president and CEO John Thievon said in a statement, "and it's clear they have a strong commitment to the launch's success."

MiddleBrook's flagship drug, Moxatag, treats strep throat and other infections with only one dose daily. The drug utilizes pulsatile technology, which requires fewer doses than conventional medicine.

The $100 million infusion was engineered by Equity Group Investments, a Chicago private equity firm. The equity was contingent on changes in the company's financial team, with Thievon becoming president and CEO, and David Becker becoming executive vice president and CFO.

The new corporate headquarters will be in Dallas, but management will travel frequently to the company's Germantown office. Indeed, the entire development team will remain in the Germantown office.

MiddleBrook is also in the midst of hiring some 200 new salespeople nationally, coinciding with the launch of Moxatag.

The changes amount to "almost a new life for the company as it transforms into a fully fledged commercial operation," according to Becker.

MiddleBrook was founded in 2000 by then-CEO Edward Rudnic under the name Advancis, which was changed to MiddleBrook last year. To date it has marketed only Keflex, which treats bacterial infections.

Rudnic's "leadership and vision resulted in some unparalleled product lines, and now to realize their value, we have to be able to bring them to market," said company spokeswoman Faith Pomeroy-Ward. Rudnic is continuing to serve as a consultant.

The personnel and logistical changes, along with the launch of Moxatag, will provide "great opportunities for a lot of people, shareholders, the health care community," Thievon said.

However, one analyst said he is in a "wait-and-see" mode.

The changes help translate into a "large marketing opportunity" according to Gregory Wade of Pacific Growth Equities in San Francisco. But he cautions that "it remains to been seen whether the market will accept a product with a significantly higher cost than available generics," even with the advantages of Moxatag. His company remains "neutral" on the company's potential.

In the recent past, the company has been losing money, with revenues of $4.9 million and a net loss of about $12 million for the six months ended June 20, reported Pomeroy-Ward.

"We'd expect it to be in the red," Becker said, as Middlebrook "had invested aggressively in development."

Company executives thought they had developed excellent products, but lacked marketing reach. The timing for Equity Group was ripe because, after some delays, the FDA had approved Moxatag in January. It was "time to turn over to a commercial management team," Becker said. Without the $100 million, "the company wouldn't have the resources to launch Moxatag."

Moxatag compares favorably to the antibiotic amoxicillin, which, according to Thievon, is "the gold standard." Amoxicillin is currently prescribed to some 50 million to 60 million people a year, of whom 33 million are adults. "Yet Moxatag has significant advantages," Thievon said, notably that it requires fewer doses.

To market Moxatag, MiddleBrook is undertaking a huge expansion. The company has about 40 employees, mostly in research and development. Some 200 new salespeople are expected to be operating in the first half of 2009, "to educate health care practitioners about the advantages of Moxatag over currently available amoxicillin formulations," Pomeroy-Ward said. The company plans to continue to expand, with 350 to 400 sales personnel by the end of 2009.

MiddleBrook is "one of our hallmark companies. We're glad they'll continue to have a presence here," Zakour said. The current development team in the Germantown office is expected to grow from about 25 to between 30 and 50 in the next few years, according to Thievon.

This report originally appeared in The Business Gazette.