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The paper aims to study how global pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer have managed the challenges of pharmaceutical patent expiry.

A case study method was applied. The best-selling brand drug over the past 10 years – Lipitor – was chosen as the case target.

For dealing with this, this paper describes all the details of the corresponding strategies of Pfizer before and after patent expiration of Lipitor. Before patent expiry, Pfizer undertook the activities of direct-to-consumer marketing, pricing strategy for competition, legal delay and me-too drug R&D. After patent expiry, Pfizer chose to carry out continuous marketing for brand, rebate strategy, authorized generics and change to over-the-counter. In addition, diversity and globalization strategy was applied before and after patent expiry.

This research provides strong implication for managing pharmaceutical products before and after patent expiry.

It is strongly recommended for both brand and generic drug companies to design strategies to meet the challenges of pharmaceutical patent expiry.

For the global pharmaceutical market, a conclusion can be drawn that, nowadays, the “patent cliff” is the most significant factor influencing decision-makers to consider futuristic policies. Further, it is also a considerably effective solution for reducing health-care costs for policymakers.

This paper contributes to the field of patent expiry management in high-tech industries such as pharmaceuticals.

AstraZeneca is preparing for the launch of Crestor, the company's first entrant in the enormous and fast-growing statin category. The team responsible for the product launch is considering how best to bring Crestor to market. Should AstraZeneca simply follow the example set by Pfizer with the exceptionally successful launch of Lipitor? Or should the company instead launch Crestor as a niche product?

To teach new product strategy for both emerging and established categories, and competitive strategy.

Objective – To examine whether local area pharmacy market structure influences contract terms between prescription drug plans (PDPs) and pharmacies under Part D.

Data – Data were collected and compiled from four sources: a national mail survey to independent pharmacies, National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP) Pharmacy database, 2000 U.S. Census data, and 2006 Economic Census data.

Results – Reimbursements varied substantially across pharmacies. Reimbursement for 20mg Lipitor (30 tablets) ranged from $62.40 to $154.80, and for 10mg Lisinopril (30 tablets), it ranged from $1.05 to $18. For brand-name drug Lipitor, local area pharmacy ownership concentration had a consistent positive effect on pharmacy bargaining power across model specifications (estimates between 0.084 and 0.097), while local area per capita income had a consistent negative effect on pharmacy bargaining power across specifications(−0.149 to −0.153). Few statistically significant relationships were found for generic drug Lisinopril.

Conclusion – Significant variation exists in PDP reimbursement and pharmacy bargaining power with PDPs. Pharmacy bargaining power is negatively related to the competition level and the income level in the area. These relationships are stronger for brand name than for generics. As contract offers tend to be non-negotiable, variation in reimbursements and pharmacy bargaining power reflect differences in initial insurer contract offerings. Such observations fit Rubinstein's subgame perfect equilibrium model.

Implication – Our results suggest pharmacies at the most risk of closing due to low reimbursements are in areas with many competing pharmacies. This implies that closures related to Part D changes will have limited effect on Medicare beneficiaries’ access to pharmacies.

All innovations launched in the market do not necessarily enjoy the returns they deserve. The purpose of the paper is to explore the role played by distribution and promotion in enhancing the value of an innovation in the customer's perception. The paper concludes with practical implications for managers in planning and controlling new product launches.

The literature surrounding successes and failures of new product launches are reviewed to evaluate the importance of distribution and promotion as capabilities critical for enhancing the value of an innovation from the perspective of the customer. Innovations are conceptualized according to the strength of the distribution and promotion capabilities that support the innovation. Suitable strategies to enhance the promotion and distribution capabilities supporting an innovation are proposed in order to enhance the competitive advantage of an innovation.

The paper has conceptualized the positioning of an innovation's value based on the strength of “market support” and “user mindspace position” capabilities supporting the innovation. Based on the position of an innovation's value, specific strategies to augment the distribution and promotion capabilities are identified for enhancing an innovation's value.

Innovations per se do not influence a positive evaluation by the consumer unless adequately supported by marketing efforts. A key implication of this paper is the need to focus attention on marketing efforts to enhance the value of an innovation in the consumer's evaluation process.

The paper provides the marketer a unique perspective to analyze an innovation's value from the customer's viewpoint based on the nature of marketing efforts employed.

In March 2015, Amgen is preparing for the launch of Repatha, a new molecule that has demonstrated a remarkable ability to treat high cholesterol. Through a series of clinical trials, Amgen has proven that the molecule is both safe and effective for patients with high cholesterol. It also is effective for patients with familial hypercholesterolemia, a difficult-to-treat population that has exceptionally high levels of cholesterol. Amgen expects the FDA to approve the molecule before the end of the year. Now, the Repatha team has to develop a revenue forecast.

Evidence continues to accumulate that human resource management (HRM) practices associated with a commitment-based management approach can generate more energy, initiative, and engagement among workers and meaningful performance gains for an organization. Despite the business case for adoption, many organizations still fail to implement commitment-based HRM practices, or even refuse to attempt such a transition. The health care industry, in particular, has been resistant to moving away from a control-based management philosophy. We identify a potential enabling factor in making the transition as the willingness and ability of senior leadership to establish fair process and a climate of procedural justice throughout the organization, and we examine the lessons offered by a high-performing pharmaceutical plant organized according to commitment-based principles.

The case offers a study of change management in the pharmaceutical industry in India.

The case is designed for undergraduate and postgraduate students to examine strategic decisionmaking in the context of mergers and acquisitions (M&As), firm capabilities and management practices. In particular, it has important pedagogical lessons for businesses eager to start operations in emerging countries. Students learn to recognize the unique nature of the pharmaceutical market and the factors affecting the demand and supply of drugs, including the economics of generics. The case can be discussed in one class session of approximately one-and-a-half to two hours duration.

In 2012, the pharmaceutical industry in India was undergoing dynamic changes. There was keen interest among MNC pharmaceutical giants to buy up Indian generic manufacturing companies since their revenues were drying up with the impending patent expirations of many blockbuster brand name drugs. Japan's Daiichi Sankyo's had taken over the largest Indian pharmaceutical company, Ranbaxy Laboratories, known for its heritage of process innovations and market leadership. However, after the acquisition, Ranbaxy slipped to third position in the domestic market and was facing multiple problems including net losses and falling share prices, cultural differences in management practices, recall of drugs from foreign markets and a US FDA ban on its manufacturing plants. Further, Ranbaxy had always been viewed as a national champion and a customer-friendly company but drug prices had increased after the merger causing problems of affordability. The new CEO of Ranbaxy was facing a dilemma: how to regain the company's position as the market leader. Students are asked to advise the CEO of Ranbaxy how to tackle the challenges arising from the integration of an Indian company with a Japanese company. More specifically, the case focuses on M&A as a strategy for growth and also touches on issues related to competition, regulation, innovation and corporate governance.

The case discusses the different motives behind the deal for Daiichi Sankyo and Ranbaxy and why it was a strategic move by both the alliance partners. The case also raises issues of corporate governance for the management of Ranbaxy and the need for a proactive corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy. The case provides students with the opportunity to develop their analytical skills in a real-life setting and apply theoretical concepts to the consideration of the various issues raised by the acquisition deal.

Teaching notes are available; please consult your librarian for access.

This paper seeks to investigate the fast‐growing problem of counterfeit prescription drugs and the steps being taken by both the private and public sectors to counteract it.

The author documents both the size and scope of the counterfeit pharmaceutical problem in the USA. The paper also looks at the steps being taken by pharmaceutical manufacturers and wholesalers, as well as legal efforts being undertaken by federal and state governments, to counteract the growing concerns over fake medicines being introduced into the pharmaceutical supply chain.

The paper builds the business case for radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to be employed to track pharmaceuticals in the supply chain and counter the growing threat of counterfeit drugs.

The principal limitation of this research is that it is being conducted on both a rapidly evolving problem (counterfeit pharmaceuticals) and the use of a rapidly developing technology (RFID) to counteract it. Thus, in time, the parameters of both the counterfeit drug problem and the technological solutions to it may shift dramatically.

The paper demonstrates that RFID provides the only effective method of providing “track and trace” electronic pedigrees for prescription drugs.

The paper is a valuable overview of the problems associated with the vulnerability of the pharmaceutical supply chain in the USA and the potential cost‐effective, life‐saving use of RFID to better secure prescription drugs, both in transit and in inventory.

In a 31‐month period, 1,184 questions addressed to the Internet Public Library's (IPL) reference service remained unanswered on the grounds that they were “out of scope”. This paper aims to analyze the questions as artifacts of users' expectations to better chart the distinction between user and librarian views of reference service.

Each question is examined to identify two user expectations, i.e. what kinds of information librarians could provide and what kinds of needs librarians could help meet. Emergent coding with a code‐recode rate of 97 per cent identifies 23 types of expected librarian assistance and 28 characteristics of expected applications of that assistance.

Users expect IPL librarians to provide personal advice, analysis, facts, procedures, instruction, technology guidance and evaluation. IPL librarians are expected to help users in making decisions, solving problems, completing processes and developing understanding.

Limitations include the use of a single coder and the use of single institution's data set. Mapping these user expectations suggests a need for librarians to consider further development of reference service in terms of its judgment, form, and involvement parameters.

Reference service policies and training should be examined to enhance librarians' abilities to consider judgment, form, and involvement parameters primarily from the user's perspective.

This paper analyzes that which is rarely seen, i.e. e‐mail reference questions which are considered beyond the scope of service. Additionally, the IPL question pool provides a broader range of user mental models than would be found in any geographically bound institution.

This paper aims to analyze the present trends in pharmaceutical innovation and the impact of generic competition.

A secondary research was conducted to collect data related to new drug approvals of various classes over previous years; trends of investment in research and development; and the pipeline of new drug products of pharmaceutical companies.

While the new molecular entity (NME) approval rate has not improved over previous years, innovators have been aggressively pursuing the radical innovation process. Further, there has been a significant increase in incremental innovation. Pharmaceutical companies' investment in research has gone up resulting in higher number of application for new drug approvals. In India, pharmaceutical companies have significantly increased their research investment. However, the NME pipeline is still slim though there has been a significant surge in generic filings.

It provides a concise understanding of trends in pharmaceutical innovation and analyzes how various factors are shaping up the innovation process. It also throws light on the evolution story of Indian pharmaceutical companies to become drug innovators.