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Case
| HBS Case Collection
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2003
(Revised from original 1997 version)
Eli Lilly and Company: Drug Development Strategy (A)
by
Stefan H. Thomke, Ashok Nimgade and Paul Pospisil
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Abstract
Describes how Eli Lilly and Co. tries to accelerate its new drug development process with the aid of "combinatorial chemistry"--a rapidly emerging and revolutionary approach to preclinical drug discovery. The product manager of a potential blockbuster migraine drug faces the decision of "racing" the drug to market or spending additional time to refine an already promising drug candidate. Focuses on: (1) the new drug development process with an emphasis on pre-clinical drug discovery; (2) radical innovations ("combinatorial chemistry") in the drug discovery process; (3) the managerial challenges of introducing such innovations into a large organization with multiple stakeholders; (4) the financial value of time-to-market; and (5) the changing competitive environment in the pharmaceutical industry.
Keywords: Chemicals;
Finance;
Innovation and Invention;
Time Management;
Markets;
Product Development;
Organizations;
Business Processes;
Problems and Challenges;
Business and Stakeholder Relations;
Competition;
Pharmaceutical Industry;