Publications

06 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 6

influential, and industry less influential, than we commonly assume. How Early Adoption Has Increased Wealth—Until Now Authors:Diego Comin and Bart Hobijn Publication:Harvard Business Review 90, no. 3 (March 2012) Abstract Societies that... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Apr 2022
Research & Ideas

Tech Hubs: How Software Brought Talent and Prosperity to New Cities

period. Software is penetrating other industries, Kerr notes. Take vaccines. Pharmaceutical companies’ speedy development of mRNA-based vaccines for COVID-19 required software, he notes. “Their capacity to bring a substantial software, AI... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

09 Feb 2016
First Look

February 9, 2016

challenges as it seeks to continue its growth. Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/816013-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 316-010 The Allergan Board Under Fire (A) In 2014, the Allergan Inc. board of directors received a surprise takeover... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2003 (Revised February 2007)
Case

PolyMedica Corporation (A)

By: David F. Hawkins and Jacob Cohen

The Securities and Exchange Commission and investors question PolyMedica Corp.'s practice of capitalizing rather than expensing of direct-response advertising. View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Business Earnings; Advertising; Private Sector; Budgets and Budgeting; Cost Management; Capital Markets; Marketing; Private Equity; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

24 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: Jan. 24

This chapter proposes a new lens to understand corruption, using internal records collected from firms that pay bribes. We examine widespread corruption in three industries in an Asian developing country: procurement, View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2013 (Revised October 2014)
Case

Novartis: Leading a Global Enterprise

By: William W. George, Krishna G. Palepu and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Novartis, the world's leading healthcare company, was formed in 1996 out of a merger of two very different, mid-tier Switzerland-based pharma companies. The case traces the company's evolution over the past 17 years, as it transformed into a truly global enterprise... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Talent and Talent Management; Organizational Structure; Organizational Culture; Success; Globalized Markets and Industries; Management Teams; Change Management; Business History; Mergers and Acquisitions; Global Strategy; Health Care and Treatment; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Switzerland

November 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

BiomX: Bringing Phage Back to the Stage

By: Paul A. Gompers, Elie Ofek, Orna Dan and Emilie Billaud

In the spring of 2023, and following the favorable results of a trial involving its phage cocktail for treating lung infections among cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, the leadership of BiomX had several critical issues to wrestle with. First, given its precarious... View Details

Keywords: Working Capital; Financing and Loans; Health Testing and Trials; Product Development; Research and Development; Science-Based Business; Commercialization; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry

March 2015 (Revised September 2016)
Case

Terrapin Laboratory

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Joseph B. Fuller

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 treatment center business. The associated teaching materials provide students the opportunity... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth; Entrepreneurial Management; Entrepreneurship; Growth Strategy; Market Entry; Venture Capital; Growth Management; Expansion; Financing and Loans; Health Care and Treatment; Health Testing and Trials; Business Startups; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

October 2014 (Revised July 2016)
Supplement

Gilead: Hepatitis C Access Strategy (B)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

While the "Gilead: Hepatitis-C Access Strategy (A)" case (HBS No. 515-025) poses questions on what the company should do with respect to hard-hit countries like Egypt and India, the (B) case provides the answer. In both cases, the company chose to pursue a proactive... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Health Industry; Health Industry

January 2014
Supplement

Amgen Inc.: Pursuing Innovation and Imitation? (B)

By: Ian Mackenzie

The (B) case reveals that Sharer decided that Amgen should enter the emerging biosimilars business. However, he took the better part of a year to syndicate the decision across the senior team while in parallel investing in some time-critical process development. The... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

June 2012
Case

GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich and Ian McKown Cornell

Three years into a major public-private partnership between GlaxoSmithKline and Fiocuz, Brazil's principal health institute, the company assesses technology transfer and joint research under the agreement. GSK was selling its Synflorix vaccine (against pediatric... View Details

Keywords: Public-Private Partnerships; Business and Government Relations; Foreign Direct Investment; Health Care and Treatment; Globalized Firms and Management; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Brazil

March 2011 (Revised June 2012)
Case

Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences

By: Willy Shih, Sen Chai, Kamen Bliznashki and Courtney Hyland

Gordon Zong is trying to teach Chinese universities and research institutes how to do effective technology transfer and IP licensing, but he is trying to do it in an environment with weak property rights and an underdeveloped support infrastructure. As the managing... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Patents; Knowledge Management; Law Enforcement; Business and Government Relations; Research and Development; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry; China

2010
Working Paper

Boundary Spanning in a For-profit Research Lab: An Exploration of the Interface Between Commerce and Academe

By: Christopher C. Liu and Toby E. Stuart

In innovative industries, private-sector companies increasingly are participants in open communities of science and technology. To participate in the system of exchange in such communities, firms often publicly disclose what would otherwise remain private discoveries.... View Details

Keywords: For-Profit Firms; Higher Education; Information Publishing; Innovation and Invention; Science-Based Business; Social and Collaborative Networks; Boundaries; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry

Read Now

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; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry

December 2005 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS (A)

CVS's retail pharmacy operations are functioning poorly and dissatisfying customers. Many customers are defecting as a result. A pharmacy service improvement team has documented the current prescription fulfillment process, its exception rates, and the problems... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Performance Improvement; Business Processes; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States