Publications

March 2011 (Revised February 2012)
Case

Innovation and Growth at Actelion Ltd.

By: Gary P. Pisano, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Ruth Dittrich

In late 2010, Jean-Paul Clozel, CEO of the Swiss biotech pharmaceuticals firm Actelion, looks back on a successful decade. The small venture that he had started with a few of his scientist colleagues in the late 1990s to discover novel medicine in a research-driven... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Talent and Talent Management; Innovation and Management; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Organizational Culture; Research and Development; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Switzerland

09 Jun 2015
News

How Merck Is Trying to Keep Disrupters at Bay

17 Nov 2009
News

Inventing a Better Patent System

April 18, 2022
Article

Will mRNA Technology Companies Spawn Innovation Ecosystems?

By: Christoph Grimpe, Timo Minssen, W. Nicholson Price, II and Ariel Dora Stern

The mRNA technologies that helped rapidly create effective COVID-19 vaccines could become technology platform businesses, which has tremendous implications for players in the world of drug development. These platforms could attract other companies interested in... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Digital Health; Technology; Innovation; Health Care and Treatment; Technological Innovation; Digital Transformation; Health Industry; United States

Register to Read

18 Jun 2020
News

Sit with Negative Emotions, Don't Push Them Away

01 Oct 2011
News

Resistance Is Futile

31 Aug 2016
News

Novartis Taps Biosimilar Experience in Europe to Snag U.S. Sales

26 Apr 2019
HBS Seminar

Maryaline Catillon, Harvard University

November 2020
Teaching Note

Valuing Celgene's CVR

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 221-031. 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)... View Details

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

June 9, 2023
Article

A Radical Treatment for Insulin Pricing

By: Leemore S. Dafny

In 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first interchangeable biosimilar for long-acting insulin, which many hoped would be substantially cheaper than the reference branded product. I explain why prices have barely changed, and argue that a... View Details

Keywords: Biosimilars; Rebates; Pharmaceuticals; Health Care and Treatment; Price; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

Register to Read

November 2009
Case

The Explosion of Genetic Testing: Opportunities and Challenges

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Mara G. Aspinall and Rachel Gordon

This case study invites the reader to consider genetic testing in several different lights. First, can the business of genetic testing be considered a disruptive innovation to the current drug therapy model as defined by Harvard Business School Professor Clay... View Details

Keywords: Genetics; Health Care and Treatment; Health Testing and Trials; Disruptive Innovation; Business Model; Biotechnology Industry; Health Industry

January 1994
Case

Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc.

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

This case examines the career path of Merck's CFO, Judy C. Lewent, as a way of tracing changes over time in Merck's finance function. It describes the adoption of innovative quantitative analytical models, changes in job definitions and in the organization of the... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Mathematical Methods; Personal Development and Career; Organizational Design; Innovation and Invention; Pharmaceutical Industry

05 Oct 2017
News

How to Promote Home Delivery of Prescription Drugs? Give Employees a 'Nudge'

28 Jan 2020
News

What Massachusetts can teach America

April 1998
Case

Cephalon, Inc.

By: Peter Tufano

In early 1997, Cephalon, awaited an FDA panel's decision on whether its drug, Myotrophin, would be approved. If the drug was approved, the firm might need substantial additional funds to commercialize as well as to buy back rights to it (which had been sold earlier to... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Financing and Loans; Health Care and Treatment; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

October 2012
Teaching Plan

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

By: Robert F. Higgins

This is the teaching note related to HBS case 808005. 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... View Details

Keywords: Venture Philanthropy; Biotechnology; Funding Philanthropy Venture; Cystic Fibrosis; Foundations; Pharmaceuticals; Mergers and Acquisitions; For-Profit Firms; Venture Capital; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Science-Based Business; Nonprofit Organizations; Pharmaceutical Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States; San Diego

August 2022
Article

Availability of New Medicines in the U.S. and Germany From 2004 to 2018

By: Katharina Blankart, Huseyin Naci and Amitabh Chandra

Importance: Germany's unique approach to coverage determination and pricing has ensured that effective medicines remain on the market, often at prices reduced through negotiation. However, less is known about trade-offs of this approach with regard to initial... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Price; Market Timing; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States; Germany