Sustainable development of an innovative enterprise in the US biopharmaceutical industry---a case study of Myriad Genetics, Inc.

摘要

The US biopharmaceutical industry is an industry set up expressly for identifying and producing pharmaceutical products for use in the medical treatment of disease. This industry has been unprofitable since its inception in 1970s. If the companies engaged in the biopharmaceutical industry cannot earn profit, the potential to benefit people all around the world with lifesaving medicines cannot be realized.;To find out the reasons of its unprofitability, we will focus on three characteristics of the drug development process: uncertainty, the lengthy process, and the high cost of drug development. To overcome all the three challenges, biopharmaceutical companies need strategic control, organizational integration and financial commitment (Lazonick 2007).;In the case study on Myriad Genetics Inc., a US biopharmaceutical firm, the strategists in the company had capability and incentives to transform resources into innovation in genetic research for some common cancers. Cumulative learning to generate expertise in these fields is a lengthy process that needs financial commitment until novel products are produced. Myriad's case also indicates that novel products created by a biopharmaceutical company may not be offered at a low price due to the market monopoly. It is arguable that the way a biopharmaceutical company pursues profits is consistent with the public need for innovation in biopharmaceuticals which means higher quality and lower price medical products.