Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(579)
- Faculty Publications (122)
- September 2014
- Case
Pfizer's Centers for Therapeutic Innovation (CTI)
By: Gary Pisano, James Weber and Kait Szydlowski
In 2010, Pfizer established four small research units in New York, Boston, San Francisco, and San Diego located close to several premier Academic Medical Centers (AMCs), or hospitals with adjoining medical schools. The goal of these units was to redesign collaboration... View Details
Keywords: Drug Development; Academic Collaboration; Research And Development; Innovation; Translational Research; Management; Operations; Problems and Challenges; Research; Science; Information Technology; Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; North and Central America; Europe; Asia
- May 2014 (Revised January 2015)
- Case
Vaxess Technologies, Inc.
By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez
In February 2014, Michael Schrader, chief executive of Vaxess Technologies, Inc., was assessing the startup health care company's 2014 marketing plan. On December 31st, 2013, Vaxess had obtained an exclusive license to a series of patents for a silk protein technology... View Details
- November 2012
- Supplement
Amylin Pharmaceuticals (B)
By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Carin-Isabel Knoop
Amylin Pharmaceuticals brought two first-in-class diabetes drugs to market, Byetta and Symlin, in 2005, which were sold in over 80 countries with $650.7 million in sales by 2011. However, the company remained unprofitable as sales plateaued. The small pharmaceutical... View Details
- August 2012 (Revised August 2024)
- Case
ABC Pharmaceuticals
By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Erik R. Sparks
This case asks students to price a new drug that is in Stage II of its clinical trials. It contains detailed estimates of the time required and costs for all the steps needed to commercialize a drug in the U.S. Students will learn virtually all the steps required to... View Details
- May 2012 (Revised August 2014)
- Case
McKesson
By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Natalie Kindred
McKesson, a large, diversified drug distribution and health care IT company, is considering development of new business offerings to help private practice physicians remain independent. The company, with $122 billion in 2010 revenues, just made its first foray into... View Details
- Article
How to Avoid Executive Stress
By: Thomas J. DeLong
When teaching various groups of executives, the author relates the story of a man addicted to prescription drugs and his brother who is addicted to achievement. Each group relates to these two professionally successful men and sees that they live largely on the edge of... View Details
- 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
- July 2010
- Case
Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug
By: John A. Quelch and Heather Beckham
Cambridge Sciences Pharmaceuticals (CSP) expects final approval for its revolutionary weight loss drug, Metabical. Metabical will be the only weight loss drug with FDA approval that is also clinically proven to be effective for moderately overweight people. Barbara... View Details
- March 2010 (Revised May 2012)
- Case
Myelin Repair Foundation: Accelerating Drug Discovery Through Collaboration
By: Karim R. Lakhani and Paul R. Carlile
This case presents the Myelin Repair Foundation's accelerated research collaboration model for drug discovery. It highlights the challenges of building a multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional research collaboration that is attempting to create a treatment for... View Details
- November 2009 (Revised March 2010)
- Case
Managing Drugs on the Forefront of Personalized Medicine: The Erbitux and Vectibix Story
By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Raju Kucherlapati and Rachel Gordon
In May 2007, Amgen Inc. (Amgen) received disappointing news from the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) that its drug Vectibix, developed to fight metastatic colorectal cancer, had been rejected. This was especially surprising news given that a similar rival drug had... View Details
- April 2009 (Revised May 2010)
- Case
Partners In Health: HIV Care in Rwanda
By: Michael E. Porter, Scott S. Lee, Joseph Rhatigan and Jim Yong Kim
In 2005, Partners in Health (PIH) was invited by the Rwandan Ministry of Health to assume responsibility for the management of public health care in two rural districts in Eastern Rwanda and create an HIV treatment program at these sites. PIH successfully implemented a... View Details
- December 2008 (Revised October 2013)
- Case
Amylin Pharmaceuticals: Diabetes and Beyond (A)
By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Rachel Gordon
Ginger Graham, CEO of Amylin Pharmaceuticals, joined the company with the expectation of taking the company's signature drug, Symlin, to market. However, unforeseen regulatory challenges have put the approval process in jeopardy. At the same time, the company has a... View Details
- March 2008
- Case
Novartis AG: Science-Based Business
By: H. Kent Bowen and Courtney Purrington
Novartis is a science-based drug company, which has important implications for its business strategy. It is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world with over $38B in sales in 2007. Pharmaceuticals account for slightly over $24B of that total. In 2007,... View Details
- February 2007 (Revised April 2010)
- Case
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics
By: Robert S. Huckman, Gary P. Pisano and Mark Rennella
Describes the reorganization of the drug discovery organization at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and focuses on the decisions to: (1) centralize decision-making within drug discovery and (2) institute numerical metrics--jointly affecting all R&D scientists--for the progression... View Details
- January 2007 (Revised January 2007)
- Background Note
Note on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
By: Robert F. Higgins, Richard G. Hamermesh and Virginia Fuller
Describes the U.S. FDA with particular emphasis on its role in the development of new drugs, biologic products, and medical devices today. Provides context for the drug approval process by describing the FDA's history and organizational structure. View Details
- November 2006 (Revised May 2025)
- Case
Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta
By: Elie Ofek and Ron Laufer
Anticipating the expiration of its Prozac patent, Eli Lilly has to make tough decisions regarding the development of its next-generation antidepressant drug. In particular, the company needs to decide whether to first establish that once-a-day dosing for Cymbalta... View Details
- November 2006 (Revised November 2007)
- Case
Strategy in the Twenty First Century Pharmaceutical Industry: Merck & Co. and Pfizer Inc.
By: David J. Collis and Troy Smith
The global pharmaceutical industry has gone through substantial changes in the last few decades and pharmaceutical firms face major challenges including headline-grabbing litigation, imminent patent expirations, new technologies, rising drug development costs, generic... View Details
- October 2006 (Revised August 2007)
- Case
Calloway Laboratory: Pee for Profit
By: Richard G. Hamermesh and David Kiron
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. View Details
- February 2006 (Revised August 2006)
- Case
deCODE Genetics: Hunting for Genes to Develop Drugs
By: Debora L. Spar
In 1996, Kari Stefansson launched a new kind of biotechnology company and a whole new way of attacking diseases. Based in Iceland, his firm, deCODE Genetics, plans to identify the individual genetic markers that lead to society's most prevalent diseases. To do so, it... View Details
- January 2006 (Revised July 2006)
- Case
Drug Testing in Nigeria (A)
By: Debora L. Spar
In 1996, a meningitis epidemic swept across Nigeria. Thousands of children were struck and, lacking appropriate medicine, were liable to die from the disease. Doctors at Pfizer had an antibiotic that could probably save most of these children's lives. The drug was new,... View Details