Publications

10 Sep 2008
Research & Ideas

Long-Tail Economics? Give Me Blockbusters!

you can make money in many creative industries by selling specialized products to niche markets identified via the Internet. For example, the new CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, the pharmaceuticals giant, likens the search for blockbusters to... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Pharmaceutical; Pharmaceutical

June 2020
Case

Breakthroughs at Blueprint Medicines

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Kathy Giusti and Susie L. Ma

Precision medicine company Blueprint Medicines was building a successful track record for bringing drug therapies to market 40% faster than average. The company had spent $40 million dollars and two years building a compound library that became its drug development... View Details

Keywords: Precision Medicine; Cancer; Biotechnology; Drug Development; Strategy; Expansion; Science; Genetics; Information Technology; Entrepreneurship; Organizational Culture; Management; Growth and Development; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States; Cambridge; Massachusetts

John Gourville is the Albert J. Weatherhead, Jr. Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He joined the HBS Marketing Unit in 1995 after receiving his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in marketing and behavioral research. His most... View Details

Keywords: pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals

May 2023
Case

Legacy Partners

By: Royce Yudkoff and Richard S. Ruback

Stephen Holbrook and Austin Pulsipher (both HBS '19) had been leading Nutrishare since acquiring the company six months earlier in mid-2021. The company, based in Sacramento CA, was a compounding pharmacy serving Total Parenteral Nutrition ("TPN") patients nationwide.... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Business or Company Management; Pharmaceutical Industry

26 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

A Clear Eye for Innovation

is Ciba Vision. Established in the early 1980s as a unit of the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Ciba-Geigy (now Novartis), the Atlanta-based Ciba Vision sells contact lenses and related eye-care products to optometrists and consumers. Although... View Details

Keywords: by Charles A. O'Reilly III & Michael L. Tushman

19 Sep 2012
Research & Ideas

Funding Innovation: Is Your Firm Doing it Wrong?

scientific-driven process. So corporations made enormous investments to create ivory towers where scientists would think great thoughts. At first it seemed very appealing, but as the fifties moved into the sixties and the sixties moved into the seventies, disillusion... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

March 2023
Case

Roche: ESG and Access to Healthcare

By: George Serafeim, Susanna Gallani and Benjamin Maletta

In May 2022, Roche Group, one of the largest healthcare companies in the world, hosted its first ESG investor event focused exclusively on its efforts to impact access to healthcare. While Roche had recently set an ambitious goal to double the number of patients that... View Details

11 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

Cheap, Fast, and In Control: How Tech Aids Innovation

experimentation and are triggering fundamental changes in R&D processes and performance in such fields as integrated circuit design, automotive development, and pharmaceutical drug discovery. Computer modeling and simulation, rapid... View Details

Keywords: by Wendy Guild

November 2007
Case

Antegren: A Beacon of Hope

By: Joshua D. Margolis, Thomas J. DeLong and Terence Heymann

The CEO of Biogen Idec faces a set of difficult decisions regarding a promising drug for Multiple Sclerosis that is headed for early approval by the FDA. The first in a series focuses on operational decisions triggered by the drive for early approval. Sparks discussion... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Leadership; Ethics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Decision Choices and Conditions; Crisis Management; Health Testing and Trials; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

February 2002
Case

Fighting AIDS and Pricing Drugs

By: John T. Gourville

In early 2001, makers of AIDS drugs were suing to prevent developing countries from violating their patents. The issue was driven by price. The developing countries could not afford the market price for these drugs. At the same time, the drug companies were reluctant... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Patents; Price; Strategy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Pharmaceutical Industry

September 2005 (Revised June 2006)
Case

WuXi PharmaTech

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Simin Zhou

WuXi Pharmatech has gone from zero to $21 million in sales in three years. The company must decide its growth strategy and how best to finance and organize for rapid growth. View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Capital Markets; Problems and Challenges; Pharmaceutical Industry; China

Web

All Industries

Entertainment / Media 3% $150k 25th Percentile Base $165k Median $184k 75th Percentile Base $13k 40% Receiving $21k 60% Receiving Health Care 6% + – Expand Row $145k 25th Percentile Base $165k Median $185k 75th Percentile Base $30k 66% Receiving $29k 71% Receiving... View Details

09 Feb 2024
HBS Case

Slim Chance: Drugs Will Reshape the Weight Loss Industry, But Habit Change Might Be Elusive

surgery or drugs it is not going to be widely taken up. Americans are very overworked. People are terribly stressed. How do they find the time for a diet like that? Editor's note: Regina Herzlinger doesn't have a financial stake in any of the View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Pharmaceutical; Pharmaceutical

January 2017
Case

Medtronic: Making the Big Leap Forward (A)

By: William W. George and Monica Baraldi

In 2014, Medtronic was about to execute a $50 billion acquisition of Ireland-based Covidien. Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak was committed to building the largest medical technology company in the world while broadening its ability to fulfill its mission of “alleviating... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Medtronic; Covidien; Mission; Tax Inversion; Business Strategy; Leadership; Mergers and Acquisitions; Pharmaceutical Industry; Republic of Ireland; Europe; Minnesota; United States

15 Jan 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, January 15, 2019

faster-growing companies to raise more capital. These results highlight the importance of institutions in enabling the provision of entrepreneurial capital to young companies. In Search of Organizational Alignment Using a 360-Degree... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

William E. Fruhan

Professor WILLIAM E. FRUHAN, JR. is George E. Bates Professor, Emeritus at the Harvard Business School. He received his BS degree from Yale University, and his MBA and DBA degrees from Harvard University. He has served as Senior Associate Dean and Director of... View Details

Keywords: pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals

February 2003 (Revised August 2005)
Case

UCB (A): Managing Information for Globalization and Innovation

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Brian DeLacey

This case presents a complex total MIS strategy case for a $3 billion European pharmaceutical/chemicals company based in Brussels. It covers corporate strategy alignment of IT portfolio, IT operations issues, and global coordination of IT. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Operations; System; Corporate Strategy; Investment Portfolio; Globalization; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Brussels