Publications

February 2008 (Revised August 2008)
Case

EXACT Sciences Corp.: Commercializing a Diagnostic Test

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

This case addresses the challenges of commercializing molecular diagnostics. Along the way, it explains the technology, payment system, and the measures used to assess the value of a diagnostic test. View Details

Keywords: Health Testing and Trials; Genetics; Science-Based Business; Commercialization; Biotechnology Industry

Find at Harvard

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

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Testing and Trials; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Genetics; Biotechnology Industry; Europe; United States

15 Jan 2018
Research & Ideas

A Better Business Model for Fighting Cancer

question—it’s clear.” Simply put, inefficiencies in the development of precision medicine can best be addressed by a business-analysis approach. With the mapping of the human genome completed 15 years ago, the sci-fi concept of using a cancer patient’s View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health; Pharmaceutical

15 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 15

Pooled Income Funds. Purchase this case: http://hbr.org/product/choosing-a-charitable-giving-vehicle/an/314073-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 514-086 23andMe: Genetic Testing for Consumers (A) On November 22, 2013, the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2011 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Gene Patents (A)

By: Richard Hamermesh, David Kiron and Phillip Andrews

In March 2010, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Sweet overturned 30 years of legal precedent and ruled that unaltered human genes could not be patented. This case reviews patent law and how it relates to our increasing knowledge of the Human Genome. The case issues... View Details

Keywords: Courts and Trials; Patents; Genetics; Judgments; Science-Based Business; Biotechnology Industry; United States

June 2020
Case

Breakthroughs at Blueprint Medicines

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Kathy Giusti and Susie L. Ma

Precision medicine company Blueprint Medicines was building a successful track record for bringing drug therapies to market 40% faster than average. The company had spent $40 million dollars and two years building a compound library that became its drug development... View Details

Keywords: Precision Medicine; Cancer; Biotechnology; Drug Development; Strategy; Expansion; Science; Genetics; Information Technology; Entrepreneurship; Organizational Culture; Management; Growth and Development; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States; Cambridge; Massachusetts

October 2011
Case

Gene Sequencing: Staking a Position in an Expanding Industry

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Mara Aspinall and Phillip Andrews

Towards the end of 2010, companies in the gene sequencing industry were pushing aggressive R&D programs to develop technologies and products in the race to sequence the entire human genome at a cost of $1,000. It remained to be seen when the "$1,000 genome" would... View Details

Keywords: Genetics; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Plan; Competition; Venture Capital; Biotechnology Industry

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24 Jan 2005
Research & Ideas

Entrepreneurial Hospital Pioneers New Model

But what's more interesting—and this is a function of operating in an environment such as India where heart disease is endemic—it's a genetic trait among Indians, and also there are so many people, so there are more heart ailments—is that... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Health

03 Sep 2024
Research & Ideas

Is It Even Possible to Dam the Flow of Misleading Content Online?

think the social media company is biased, but its action still reduces the potential for a bad outcome. General: For example, “don’t eat GMOs.” With a more general expression, such as a post that genetically modified foods are... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Information Technology; Technology

27 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 27

find emissions to be less under cap-and-trade, with technology choice driving the vast majority of the difference. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/12-079.pdf Lords of the Harvest: Third-Party Signaling and Regulatory Approval of View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

October 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Background Note

Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Mara G. Aspinall and Rachel Gordon

PIavix, one of the world's best selling drugs in 2010, appears to have a limited future. Its patent was due to expire soon, and recently new data had been discovered that indicated that a small subset of the population would be at risk for stroke, heart attack, or even... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Product Positioning; Business and Government Relations; Genetics; Competitive Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry

13 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

3 Ways Firms Can Profit From Environmental Investments

2014. BCG recommended that conventional brands would do well to enter the environmentally friendly product market, as Clorox did by launching its Green Works line of cleaning products, or as Unilever did by acquiring Ben & Jerry's-which recently announced plans to... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Energy; Utilities

January 2009 (Revised July 2010)
Case

iZumi

By: Robert F. Higgins, Jacob Ian Broder-Fingert, Eliot Sherman and Sidhartha Palani

Presents the issues faced while building an innovative company in an emerging space with new intellectual property from the perspective of a venture capitalist. Beth Seidenberg, a partner at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), had helped... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Globalized Markets and Industries; Innovation and Management; Intellectual Property; Rights; Genetics; Financial Services Industry; Health Industry