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June 2004 (Revised November 2004)
Case

Acorda Therapeutics: Rebuilding the Spinal Cord

Acorda is an early-stage life science start-up with a promising product that is close to reaching the market (Phase III clinical trials). The company is grappling with how to expand its portfolio of molecules to make the business more sustainable. It faces classic... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Science-Based Business; Health Testing and Trials; Business Startups; Product Development; Biotechnology Industry

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2023
Working Paper

Market Exclusivity and Innovation: Evidence From Antibiotics

By: Edward Kong and Olivia Zhao

The US incentivizes drug innovation via patents as well as market exclusivity periods awarded by the US Food and Drug Administration. We estimate the causal effects of extending market exclusivity for an important drug class: antibiotics. Using a... View Details

Keywords: Health Testing and Trials; Innovation and Invention; Motivation and Incentives; Government Administration; Government Legislation; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

SSRN

June 2023 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Biogen and the Aduhelm Melee

By: Amitabh Chandra and Lauren Gunasti

Alzheimer's Disease is a devastating condition affecting millions of Americans. At this time, there is no cure. In 2021, Biogen's Aduhelm (aducanumab) received FDA approval under the accelerated approval pathway after a controversial approval process.

This... View Details

Keywords: Health Testing and Trials; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Valuation; Product Development; Pharmaceutical Industry

19 Dec 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 19, 2017

trials. As a result, this could change the types of products that can be profitably brought to market. To better understand the landscape of precision medicines, we use a comprehensive database of over 130,000 global clinical View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

December 2006 (Revised August 2008)
Case

Pervasis Therapeutics, Inc.

By: Robert F. Higgins and Virginia Fuller

In May 2005, Steve Bollinger was about to become president and chief operating officer of Pervasis Therapeutics, a small cell therapy start-up in Cambridge, Mass. If proven successful, Pervasis' product, Vascugel, could change the way vascular disease is treated and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Care and Treatment; Health Testing and Trials; Health Industry; Cambridge

September 2020
Case

Minerva 2004: Discovery

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

After nearly five years in operation, Doctor Cynthia Bamdad, founder and CEO of Minerva Biotechnologies Corporation (Minerva), was reflecting on the company’s next steps. In a few short years, she and her small team had managed to develop a nanoparticle process for... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Biotechnology Industry

June 2008 (Revised July 2008)
Case

The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis

By: Robert Steven Kaplan, Christopher Marquis and Brent Kazan

Marc Buoniconti is the co-founder of the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, a nonprofit medical research organization. The project was founded in 1985 by Marc and his father Nick, a former Hall of Fame football player, when Marc suffered a spinal cord injury. In 2007,... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Health Testing and Trials; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Research and Development; Nonprofit Organizations; Health Industry; Miami

Article

Czech Mate: Expropriation and Investor Protection in a Converging World

By: Mihir A. Desai and Alberto Moel

This paper examines the expropriation of a foreign investor by a local partner and the subsequent resolution of that case through international arbitration in favor of the investor. Despite the investor's 99% interest in joint venture, the local partner managed to... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Capital Markets; Foreign Direct Investment; Geographic Location; Multinational Firms and Management; Governance Controls; Courts and Trials; Rights; Czech Republic; United States

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March 2023
Case

Moderna

By: Marco Iansiti, Karim R. Lakhani, Hannah Mayer, Kerry Herman, Allison J. Wigen and Dave Habeeb

This multimedia case follows the story of Moderna and its entry into vaccine development in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In summer 2020, Stephane Bancel, CEO of biotech firm Moderna, faces several challenges as his company races to develop a vaccine for COVID-19.... View Details

Keywords: Health Pandemics; Research and Development; Digital Transformation; Health Testing and Trials; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

June 2014 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Joshua D. Margolis and Matthew G. Preble

What do you do when your rising professional career is cut short by an unexpected cancer diagnosis? Kathy Giusti shifted careers, built a new organization that transformed how cancer research is done, and now faces the challenge of sustaining the organization and its... View Details

January 2009 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Targanta Therapeutics: Hitting a Moving Target

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich

This case explores regulatory, product testing, and business strategy at Targanta Therapeutics, a biotech company preparing its first new drug application to the FDA. In October 2007, Mark Leuchtenberger, president and CEO of Targanta—which has just held a successful... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Testing and Trials; Product Development; Business and Government Relations; Business Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry