Publications

August 1995 (Revised June 1997)
Case

Hillcrest Research Associates, Inc.

Hillcrest designs and administers testing procedures for drugs to determine whether they pass FDA specifications. As the company grows, it encounters problems with information technology and with the clinical research associates, who feel pressured to report more... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Information Technology; Health Testing and Trials; Pharmaceutical Industry

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02 Oct 2000
Research & Ideas

The Dubious Logic of Global Megamergers

Williams had nearly $8 billion in sales. The oil industry is becoming more competitive in part because of such cast-off purchases by companies like Williams. Stay Home. For many companies, it still makes a lot more sense to grow... View Details

Keywords: by Pankaj Ghemawat & Fariborz Ghadar

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

15 Feb 2000
Research & Ideas

The Right Connections

pharmaceutical companies — what the authors call downstream social capital — had a direct impact on the size of the startup's IPO. "Downstream social capital was essential in attracting the interest of... View Details

Keywords: by Judith A. Ross

Web

HBS - The year in Review

standards, and values of the School. The recipients were honored during the Class Day ceremony. The 2023 Award recipients were Reshma Kewalramani MD, FASN (GMP 18, 2015) CEO and President, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Depelsha Thomas McGruder... View Details

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

Article

What to Know About Locating in a Cluster

By: Willy C. Shih and Sen Chai

As a study of two industry clusters in Denmark shows, factors that can make clusters attractive—easy people movement and knowledge spillovers—can also make it harder for individual companies to retain proprietary knowledge. View Details

Keywords: Clusters; Clustering; Competitiveness; Life Sciences; Telecommunications; Science-based; Research And Development; Industry Clusters; Research; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Geographic Location; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Denmark

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April 2014 (Revised July 2015)
Case

Sanofi Pasteur: The Dengue Vaccine Dilemma

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, David E. Bloom, Vincent Dessain and Emilie Billaud

In 2012, Sanofi Pasteur was racing to develop a vaccine against dengue, a mosquito-borne disease, and was evaluating this product in a Phase IIb trial conducted with school children in Thailand. But while the candidate vaccine met the high safety expectations and a... View Details

Keywords: Health Testing and Trials; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Emerging Markets; Pharmaceutical Industry; France

13 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Merck CEO Ken Frazier Discusses a COVID Cure, Racism, and Why Leaders Need to Walk the Talk

As chairman and CEO of the leading vaccine producer in the world, pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co., Ken Frazier has one of the highest-profile positions in global business. But Frazier, who is leading one of the firms on a charge to... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Pharmaceutical

November 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Case

GTC Biotherapeutics: Developing Medicines in the Milk of Goats

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Sarah Morton

GTC is the first company in the animal world to receive FDA approval of a transgenic pharmaceutical. What are the implications for other firms in plants and animals and their opportunities to produce new medicines in an economical and safe fashion? View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Science-Based Business; Medical Specialties; Product; Technological Innovation; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

Web

2023 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

the changes have been accelerated by technology, the pandemic, rising interest rates, and inflation. But the managerial and resource-allocation implications of these developments for start-ups and established companies are often... View Details

August 2001 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Helios Health (A)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Alfred Martin

Helios PC system provides personalized drug information to the patients in the doctor's waiting room. It has met with considerable consumer acceptance and a very high return for the drug companies that sponsor it. What price should it charge them for the service? View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Price; Health Care and Treatment; Information Publishing; Innovation and Invention; Product Marketing; Demand and Consumers; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

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24 Sep 2013
First Look

First Look: September 24

models a negotiation between two pharmaceutical companies-Johnson & Johnson and Merck-concerning the international distribution rights for Remicade, a blockbuster anti-arthritis drug. At odds over the original distribution contract,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2017
Case

Cantel Medical

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Cantel Medical Corporation provided infection prevention and control products and services for patients, caregivers, and other healthcare providers. In 2016, Cantel generated sales of $665 million and net profits of $60 million, double the levels of five years earlier.... View Details

Keywords: Cantel; Charles Diker; Furniture Industry; Matrix Organization; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Chemicals; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Business History; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Structure; Problems and Challenges; Research and Development; Opportunities; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Information Technology; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States; New Jersey

09 Oct 2020
Blog Post

4 Things To Know About the MS/MBA Biotech

and pharmaceutical management. I learned about value-based approaches to drug pricing and concluded that overseeing a mission-driven pharmaceutical company would provide me... View Details

June 2024
Supplement

Legacy Partners (A)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details.

Stephen Holbrook and Austin Pulsipher (both HBS '19) had been leading Nutrishare since acquiring the company six months earlier in mid-2021.... View Details