Fluent Essays

Upon reading the case study on LinkDoc (uploaded in Content, lecture 9), please POST your answers for the following questions  1)  How should LinkDoc design and develop its products & services to better help its customers and create good payment streams? 2)  With limited resources in hand, how should LinkDoc choose its target markets and clients? 3)  How should LinkDoc cope with the conflict between the need for profits and legal data use in Asia?Professor Hua Zhang, Case Writer Wenying Qian and Research Assistant Shuyang Li of China Europe International Business School prepared this case. It was reviewed and approved before publication by a company designate. Funding for the development of this case was provided by China Europe International Business School and not by the company. CEIBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. Copyright © 2020 China Europe International Business School. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to www.hbsp.harvard.edu. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted, or transmitted, without the permission of Harvard Business School. CB0093 REV: October 11, 2020 HUA ZHANG WENYING QIAN SHUYANG LI LinkDoc: Commercial Exploration of Healthcare Big Data At the end of 2014, Zhang Tianze, after five years in the hospital information system (HIS) industry, established LinkDoc Technology. This new enterprise—Zhang’s second startup—would focus on building a healthcare big data platform, which aimed to empower the traditional healthcare industry through big data and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Although innovative, this new endeavor also posed many challenges: How should LinkDoc refine valuable clinical information from massive amounts of raw healthcare data? How should it create commercial value out of healthcare big data? The complex healthcare industry chain involved many participants, including patients, physicians, pharma (pharmaceutical companies), providers (i.e., healthcare service providers like hospitals, clinics, and laboratories), and payers (i.e., government-run medical insurance and private insurers). Which participants had the strongest willingness to pay for healthcare big data? How should LinkDoc design its products and business model to attract paying customers? Healthcare big data companies needed significant and sustained investments in R&D. While some companies in the industry had focused merely on R&D from the start—without a clear path to commercialization—and were doomed to failure when encountering a shortfall in external funding, others chose models that yielded quick profits in the areas that made it easier to commercialize big data, but only managed to occupy small corners of the market. Once engaged along one of these paths, none would find it easy to break through and become a household name in the sector. The question for LinkDoc, therefore, was how to strike a balance between short-term survival and long-term ambitious goals. Company Profile Established at the end of 2014, LinkDoc Technology was an oncology-focused healthcare big data company. With a headcount of nearly 1,100 in Andrew Ramirez Overview Zarur and Cobb Greenlight Bioscience Vision Impact investment Four tenets of impact investing First problem SWOT Choices Recommendation conclusion Andrey J. Zarur Ph.D. CO-FOUNDER, PRESIDENT, & CEO Born and raised in Mexico Gained his Ph. D. at MIT started his second company in 2002 BioProcessors Inc. Became the managing director of Kodiak Ventures life sciences investment portfolio for 10 years Founded Greenlight Biosciences in 2009 but wouldn’t leave Kodiak until 2012 Carole Cobb CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Carole Cobb has a masters in business administration in finance She also has B.S. degrees chemical engineering, biochemistry and cell and molecular biology Was the SVP of global supply at Genencor international and continued when acquired by Danisco Joined Greenlight Biosciences in 2015 even though she meant to retire a few months earlier Greenlight Biosciences Founded in 2009 The concept was to take the “life” component out of cells but maintain the mechanics of the cell. Over the initial 5 – 6 years and $24 dollars later the company would refine a process to develop “zombie cells” The platform was complete but there was no application Syngenta approached greenlight and wanted to use the platform to produce RNAi for agricultural use As of 2016 Greenlight had proof of concept for the agricultural RNAi project and would need 1.5 – 2 years to finalize the process and another round of financing Zarur’s Vision Due to the utility of RNAi and Greenlights ability to produce the RNAi at a significantly lower cost than normal Zarur wanted to use the technology for life changing applications After talking to a Princess Mabel Van Orenje, Zarur was convinced to try and use the technology to address malaria On top of attempting to address malaria Zarur wanted to use the Technology for pesticide purposes in order to improve global food security Impact investment Mabel Van Orenje introduced impact investment to Zarur, a relatively new investment type that may allow Greenlight to acquire funding without sacrificing Zarur’s Vision Impact investing constitutes investments that are intended to make positive and measurable social and environmental impact along with financial returns (GIIN, 2021) Estimated to have over $110 Billion in assets under management in 2016 over double from the previous year https://knowledge.insead.edu/strategy/maximising-outcomes-in-impact-investing-13636 Four tenets of impact investing Intentionality – the investors intention must be to have a positive social or environmental impact Investment return – the investment is expected to make a return on capital or at the very least a return of capital Range of return expectations and asset classes – return expectations could be below market, risk adjusted market rates and could be across market classes Impact Measurement – reporting of investments, financial as well as social and environmental performance, to show aMerger Analysis: Pfizer Upjohn and Mylan Michael Hopkinson Operations Management for Biotechnology MGMT 921 08 February 2021 1 CMC Project Proposal- Presentation Outline Overview of Upjohn (Pfizer Established Medicines) Key Consideration 1 Overview of Mylan Key Consideration 2 Strategic Direction of “Newco” (Viatris) Key Consideration 3 Conclusion Review/ Questions 2 UpJohn aka Pfizer Established Medicines Division 2018 Financials 3 Total Revenue of Pfizer Spinoff Division ~ $10 billion LEP Off patent drugs currently marketed under brand name; most (excluding Premarin) have strong generic competitors in the market; majority of revenue driven by Lipitor, Lyrica, Viagra, and Norvasc Biosimilars Not included in the merger! Sterile Injectables Not included in the merger! Pfizer broken into 3 business elements- the Upjohn element is represented above; Pfizer trying to focus on novel development and expand their internal pipeline; next ‘round’ of LOE will begin in the 2023/ 2025 range (depending on litigation around this piece) Note- Sterile Injectables not included in Established Medicines (part of Innovative Medicine Division, under the Hospital Medicines business unit) Note- Biosimilars not included as part of the transaction deal 3 UpJohn aka Pfizer Established Medicines Division 2019 Financials 4 Total Revenue of Pfizer Spinoff Division ~ $10 billion 2019 Financial Report 18 \% Revenue decrease in Upjohn business segment Additional pressures detailed on the right (table) 4 Upjohn- Lipitor Revenue Review 5 https://www.axios.com/lipitor-pfizer-drug-patent-sales-2019-6937cdfb-47f1-46bc-8cf0-39e6b88e235e.html Since 2014, annual sales ~$2 billion driven by the Chinese market; driver behind this has historically been hospital bids, but in 2019 Pfizer failed at a large hospital bid in 2019, and subsequently lowered Lipitors price in China by 30\% to attract private patient sales China is a prescription market, meaning physicians decide which medicines patients take; sales forces educate doctors and hospitals about clinical benefits of their product Upjohn has strong commercial sales presence in China (5k commercial employees in China), and Pfizer had the first GMP-certified manufacturing site in China Note- Sterile Injectables not included in Established Medicines (part of Innovative Medicine Division, under the Hospital Medicines business unit) Note- Biosimilars not included as part of the transaction deal 5 Key Consideration 1 6 What happens to future Pfizer LOE (loss of exclusivity) drugs? Ibrance could lose market exclusivity in 2023, followed by Xeljanz in 2025 (account for greater than 10\% of Pfizer’s total revenue in 2019) Pfizer looking to extend exclusivity for a few more years if possible (legal actions) LOE will continue to play a factor for Pfizer LOE is a reality for any company involved in developing drugs and bringing them through the approval process and fiCase Study: Covid-19 testing at everlywell Linda Petry Biotech Operations 22Feb2021 Outline Julia Cheek, CEO Background of Everlywell In-vitro Diagnostics Market 3 Options Lessons Learned Conclusion Julia Cheek, CEO Grew up in Dallas, TX Won a full scholarship to Vanderbilt University Worked at Deliotte as a consultant 2009, entered Harvard Business School-height of recession George W. Bush Institute (Strategy and Operations) and Moneygram (VP Corporate Strategy) Jan 2015 - health problems led to a start up idea August 2015 –Launched everlywell She ended up having a hormone and vitamin imbalance, which led to her idea of a creating a start company for in-vitro diagnostics. She was both passionate and felt the timing was right. An interesting point is that she was told to dye her hair to differentiate herself from Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes 3 SWOT ANalysis Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats everlywell Strengths Developed tests that used human blood, fluid, or tissue samples to identify diseases/medical issues In-vitro Diagnostics (IVD) industry (classified as medical devices) FDA evaluated IVD tests prior to release to verify accurate results and clinically useful Everlywell tests were considered LDTs-Laboratory-developed tests $67 Billion (2019); forecast $91 Billion (2027) everlywell Weaknesses People without a healthcare background could lack the skills to collect a proper sample, leading to incorrect results Potential errors for contamination, incorrect sample sizes, mislabeled samples, failure to store at proper temperature Partnering with independent labs makes everlywell the middleman IVD industry scandals: LabCorp’s Ovasure accuracy rate less than 7\%, Theranos fraud Hard time raising money, only been in business since 2015 threats Changing Landscape due to COVID-19 OpEx reductions needed-12\% - 35\% (Exhibit 4) Dow dropped 13\% Orders down 50\% Temporary Hiring freeze In Vitro Diagnostics = Devices Federal law (FD&C Act, section 513) established the risk-based device classification system for medical devices, based on the level of control to provide reasonable assurance safety and effectiveness 3 Classes of Devices: Class I (low to moderate risk): general controls Class II (moderate to high risk): general controls and Special Controls Class III (high risk): general controls and Premarket Approval (PMA) Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C ACT) 2020 = 37,000 Medical and Diagnostic Labs in the US 27,000 Different Companies Generated $52.3 Billion in revenue Major players: LabCorp- 50 labs – $9.4 Billion = 18\% market share (2019) Quest Diagnostics – 80 labs – $7.2 Billion = 14\% market share (2019) Third party vendors such as Abbott Labs 37 states allow patients to order their own lab tests In vitro diagnostics are tests done on samples such as blood or tissue that have been taken from the human body. In vitro diagnostics can detect disease