Drug Sales Reps Stow the Sample Case and Turn to Zoom

In April, just weeks into the coronavirus-prompted shutdowns, Kevin Bordelon, a sales representative for drug giant Sanofi, looked up from a video call with a dermatologist to spot a redheaded blur in the background. It was his 3-year-old toddler, racing in with “nothing but underwear on and peanut butter all over his face,” he recalls, laughing. “And there’s just nothing you can do at that point to stop it, you know? You just kind of let it happen.”

Bordelon’s toddler disruptions while working from home are a far cry from the iconic image of a polished pharmaceutical sales rep barging into a doctor’s office with briefcase and a spread of drug samples in hand—think Jake Gyllenhaal peddling Viagra pills in the 2010 romantic comedy Love & Other Drugs. But the pandemic has changed things, even in the world of sales. The 40-year-old Bordelon used to spend his workdays traveling across the U.S., meeting with doctors and other medical providers. Lately, though, he’s swapped the fieldwork for a home-office setup, virtual meetings, and some rowdy new co-workers: his 3-year-old and 6-year-old sons.