Publications

October 2007 (Revised July 2013)
Case

Vertex Pharmaceuticals and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation: Venture Philanthropy Funding for Biotech

By: Robert F. Higgins, Sophie LaMontagne and Brent Kazan

In 2001, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated acquired the San Diego-based biotech company, Aurora Biosciences. The combination of Vertex's and Aurora's technologies would improve the flow of novel drug candidates into development. However, several questions related to... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy; Philanthropy Funding; Innovation; Funding Model; Venture Capital; Partners and Partnerships; Financing and Loans; Investment Funds; Acquisition; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry; San Diego

Keywords: biotechnology; biotechnology; biotechnology

17 Sep 2021
Research & Ideas

The Trial of Elizabeth Holmes: Visionary, Criminal, or Both?

Former Theranos employees began testifying this week against Elizabeth Holmes, the once-celebrated biotech’s founder and CEO, in a criminal trial that has Silicon Valley worried. In opening statements last week, federal prosecutors charged that Holmes and the company’s... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Biotechnology; Biotechnology; Biotechnology

01 Oct 2021
News

From Scholarship to Life-Saving Impact

focused on patients. “Patients and their families are at the center of why I want to be in the biotechnology space,” she concludes. “When you’re working on rare diseases, it’s hard not to feel like you’re making a difference.” View Details

18 Nov 2002
Research & Ideas

Where Morals and Profits Meet: The Corporate Value Shift

information technologies. Recent advances in biotechnology have raised ethical issues that have never before presented themselves. And globalization has given rise to cross-cultural dilemmas that just weren't a major part of the scene in... View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

October 2004 (Revised March 2005)
Case

Langer Lab, The: Commercializing Science

By: H. Kent Bowen, Alex Kazaks, Ayr Muir-Harmony and Bryce LaPierre

Professor Robert Langer's laboratory at MIT is the source of an unusually large number of published papers, patents, and technology licenses to start-up and established companies in the biomedical industry. Explores Langer's leadership and other factors that create a... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Business Startups; Research and Development; Patents; Innovation Leadership; Science-Based Business; Commercialization; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry

November 2020
Case

Valuing Celgene's CVR

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

When Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) acquired Celgene Corporation in November 2019, Celgene shareholders received cash, BMS stock, and a contingent value right (CVRs) that would pay $9 if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved three of Celgene’s late stage... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Value; Valuation; Judgments; Decision Making; Cash Flow; Financial Instruments; Cognition and Thinking; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States

Web

Student Spotlight: 2023 HCC Co-Presidents Reflect on Their Time at HBS and the Current Health Care Systems - Blog: Health Supplement

technology, and commercialization decision-making in the life sciences. They complemented the case method with applied learning through projects and written assignments–for example, a mock diligence report for a biotechnology company.... View Details

12 Jun 2018
Research & Ideas

In a Landscape of 'Me Too' Drug Development, What Spurs Radical Innovation?

portfolios. They examined all companies that held at least one drug patent on the market as of 2003. The researchers focused mainly on small-molecule drugs, not biologics. That’s because of how the compounds are structured chemically. The complicated chemical makeup of... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Health; Pharmaceutical

31 Jan 2014
News

Body, Heal Thyself

Chien and Derrick Rossi, published a paper in the journal Nature Biotechnology that showed mRNA Therapeutics was capable of stimulating blood vessel growth, repairing damaged heart tissue, and helping a mouse through myocardial... View Details

Keywords: Maureen Harmon; biotech; Health, Social Assistance; Scientific Research and Development Services

April 2023
Case

Drive Capital: A New Road for Venture

By: Paul A. Gompers and Alicia Dadlani

Founded by two former Sequoia Capital partners, Columbus-Ohio-based Drive Capital’s mission was to build a world-class venture capital firm in the middle of the U.S., an area historically overlooked by VCs. Drive faced early challenges of attracting investors, sourcing... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Business Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States; Ohio

January 2014 (Revised June 2015)
Case

Amgen Inc.: Pursuing Innovation and Imitation? (A)

By: Ian W. Mackenzie

Set in 2009, the (A) case explores whether Amgen, a leading innovator of biotech-based drugs, should enter the emerging business of biosimilars (BS), which are essentially 'me-too' products. There appear to be sound reasons to explore this related diversification:... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States