Publications

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

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

04 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 4

Publications August 2013 MIT Sloan Management Review The Art of Strategic Renewal By: Binns, Andy, J. Bruce Harreld, Charles A. O'Reilly, and Michael L. Tushman Abstract—In recent years, we have seen well-established companies such as... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthlorne

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

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

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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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

25 Feb 2002
Research & Ideas

The Country Effect: Does Location Matter?

helping define company success in highly industrialized countries. In short, they reported that companies with cultures that embrace entrepreneurialism and competitiveness—the rabbits and tigers—outperform... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

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

December 1992
Case

BASF: Corporate Advertising for 1992

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Norman Klein

Describes BASF's corporate advertising program in the United States. In 1992, BASF's U.S. companies extended an existing corporate advertising campaign to continue to build awareness of the German-based multinational's corporate identity. The core theme of the campaign... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Germany

22 Aug 2022
Research & Ideas

Can Amazon Remake Health Care?

need to do these [things] because we know patients respond to these financial barriers by cutting back on valuable care. Amazon’s not going to fix that problem. Amazon is good at selling other people’s products—but I don’t see it as a View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Health

27 Jul 2015
Research & Ideas

The ‘Promotion’ That Makes You Feel Bad

of people are affected by this topic." An estimated 50 percent of multinationals use English as their common company language, Neeley says. Countless more have the same policy on an unofficial basis, she... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

06 Jul 2016
What Do You Think?

How Do We Pay for the Costs of Globalization?

magic.’ Sorry, but it hasn’t.” They advanced possible responses with much more reliance on carrots than sticks. David Wittenberg, for example, said that, “Punishing companies for making economically rational decisions violates our... View Details

Keywords: by James L. Heskett; Manufacturing

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

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

November 1991 (Revised August 2005)
Case

Whelan Pharmaceuticals: Tax Factors and Global Site Selection

Whelan Pharmaceuticals, a U.S. company with $3 billion in sales, must decide where to manufacture its newest product. In considering possible sites, both foreign and U.S., the firm must identify and make trade-offs between tax, marketing, and manufacturing factors. View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Geographic Location; Cost vs Benefits; Production; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

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