Publications

2023
Working Paper

Evaluation and Learning in R&D Investment

By: Alexander P. Frankel, Joshua L. Krieger, Danielle Li and Dimitris Papanikolaou

We examine the role of spillover learning in shaping the value of exploratory versus incremental R&D. Using data from drug development, we show that novel drug candidates generate more knowledge spillovers than incremental ones. Despite being less likely to reach... View Details

Keywords: Research and Development; Forecasting and Prediction; Valuation; Pharmaceutical Industry

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December 2019
Supplement

The Business of Pain: Johnson & Johnson and the Promise of Opioids (B)

By: Erik Snowberg, Trevor Fetter and Amy W. Schulman

This case is designed to provide an engrossing overview of stakeholder capitalism through a vigorous discussion of the conflicts that can arise when trying to serve multiple stakeholders. In 2007, Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) subsidiary Janssen has to decide whether or... View Details

Keywords: Opioids; Addiction; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Product Launch; Ethics; Society; Pharmaceutical Industry

December 2019
Case

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem (Abridged)

By: Willy Shih

This case describes the efforts of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to lower the cost of producing vaccines to prevent polio infections. It is an abridged version of HBS Case No. 620-021 with less emphasis on comparison between traditional and the new compact... View Details

Keywords: Vaccine; Manufacturing; Barriers To Entry; Production; Cost; Technological Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Pharmaceutical Industry

November 2019
Article

How Do Sales Efforts Pay Off? Dynamic Panel Data Analysis in the Nerlove-Arrow Framework

By: Doug J. Chung, Byungyeon Kim and Byoung G. Park

This paper evaluates the short- and long-term value of sales representatives’ detailing visits to different types of physicians. By understanding the dynamic effect of sales calls across heterogeneous physicians, we provide guidance on the design of optimal call... View Details

Keywords: Nerlove-Arrow Framework; Stock-of-goodwill; Dynamic Panel Data; Serial Correlation; Instrumental Variables; Sales Effectiveness; Detailing; Analytics and Data Science; Sales; Analysis; Performance Effectiveness; Pharmaceutical Industry

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August 2017 (Revised July 2018)
Case

MannKind Corporation: Take a Deep Breath, This Time Afrezza Will Work

By: Elie Ofek and Amanda Dai

In June 2014, MannKind Corporation announced that after years of development and billions of dollars in expenses, the FDA had finally approved its drug, Afrezza. MannKind would thus be the only company with an inhalable insulin on the market. As an alternative to... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Adoption; Pharmaceutical Industry

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

June 2016
Teaching Plan

Terrapin Laboratory

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Andrew Otazo

This teaching plan accompanies the case "Terrapin Laboratory," HBS No. 315-098. That case describes the formation and rapid growth of a drug testing company. The company needs to decide whether to enter the painkiller testing market, in addition to growing its drug... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth; Entrepreneurial Management; Growth Strategy; Market Entry; Venture Capital; Market Entry and Exit; Entrepreneurship; Health Testing and Trials; Growth and Development Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry

March 2014 (Revised November 2020)
Case

The Novartis Malaria Initiative

By: Michael Chu, Vincent Marie Dessain and Emilie Billaud

The Novartis Malaria Initiative was designed, as a result of a precedent–setting agreement with the World Health Organization in 2001, to provide a breakthrough treatment for malaria—"at no profit"—for public health systems. What had begun as an exemplary act of... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Product Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Enterprise; Pharmaceutical Industry; Switzerland; Africa; Nigeria

November 1994
Case

AB Astra: Growth with Quality

By: Mary E. Barth and David F. Hawkins

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Quality; Pharmaceutical Industry

April 2012 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Merck: Operating Science-Based Business

By: Ananth Raman, Inga Maurer and William Schmidt

Merck is known for its commitment to investing in basic R&D. Are Merck's long-term investments justifiable when the firm faces extreme earnings pressure? View Details

Keywords: Science-Based Business; Management; Research and Development; Business and Shareholder Relations; Operations; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

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

October 2010 (Revised August 2016)
Case

On Weldon's Watch: Recalls at Johnson & Johnson from 2009 to 2010

By: Clayton S. Rose, Sandra J. Sucher, Rachel Gordon and Matthew Preble

In October of 2010, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) was unable to extricate itself from a year long recall crisis that had subjected the firm to criticism from Congress and regulators, resulted in the resignation of one of the firm's most senior officers, and cost hundreds of... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Values and Beliefs; Leadership; Crisis Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Quality; Pharmaceutical Industry

February 2010
Supplement

Organization and Strategy at Millennium (B)

By: Julie M. Wulf and Scott Waggoner

This case examines Millennium's strategic and organizational responses to the rapid evolution of the biopharmaceutical industry. In the early 2000s, as Millennium's competitive advantage in early-stage research slipped away and its losses mounted, founder CEO Mark... View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Transformation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Crisis Management; Competitive Advantage; Commercialization; Selection and Staffing; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Pharmaceutical Industry

June 2009 (Revised April 2017)
Teaching Note

Merck: Managing Vioxx (A)-(G)

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

Teaching Note for [109080], [109081], [109082], [109083], [109084], [109085], and [109086]. View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Strategy And Execution; Crisis Management; Risk; Core Values; Pharmaceutical Industry

April 2009
Supplement

Merck: Managing Vioxx (E)

By: Robert L. Simons, Kathryn Rosenberg and Natalie Kindred

Keywords: Leadership; Decision Choices and Conditions; Customer Focus and Relationships; Pharmaceutical Industry

1999
Chapter

The Economics of Drug Discovery

By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Iain Cockburn

Keywords: Economics; Innovation and Invention; Research and Development; Pharmaceutical Industry

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August 2008 (Revised May 2009)
Background Note

Note on Generic Drugs in the European Union

By: Robert C. Pozen and Elizabeth M. Leonard

Rules governing the introduction of generic drugs in U.S. and EU have some similarities but significant differences because of the Hatch-Waxman Act in the U.S. View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Legislation; Health Care and Treatment; Trademarks; Brands and Branding; Pharmaceutical Industry; European Union; United States

July 2008 (Revised September 2008)
Case

Recent Developments in the Ranbaxy Case

By: Robert C. Pozen

This brief case describes settlements Indian drug maker Ranbaxy has made with Pfizer and AstraZeneca, as well as Daiichi Kangyo's purchase of a majority shareholding in Ranbaxy in 2008. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation; Ownership Stake; Pharmaceutical Industry; India