Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • April 2017
  • Supplement
  • HBS Case Collection

Imprimis (C)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karen Elterman and Marc Appel
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:7
ShareBar

Abstract

This case is a supplement to Imprimis (A & B). Set in 2015, it first describes Imprimis’s decision to introduce its own line of compounded eye drop medication called LessDrops. The case then examines the moral dilemma faced by CEO Mark Baum, who was struck by the problem of high drug prices in the United States. Recent, drastic price hikes on pharmaceutical drugs, such as those initiated by Turing Pharmaceuticals under CEO Martin Shkreli, had recently brought media attention to this issue. Baum believed it would be relatively easy for Imprimis to create compounded versions of many of the affected drugs, which could increase competition in the pharmaceutical industry and lessen the strain both on patients and the healthcare system as a whole. However, doing so would require the company to raise capital, strengthen its sales force, and increase its manufacturing capabilities. The decision was further complicated by the relatively low barrier to entry and by the ubiquitous nature of the drug pricing problem. Baum had to decide whether Imprimis should stick with its already successful ophthalmology business or begin the endeavor of combatting high drug prices, going up against powerful competitors in the drug industry.

Keywords

Health Care and Treatment; Cost; Moral Sensibility; Competitive Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

Citation

Casadesus-Masanell, Ramon, Karen Elterman, and Marc Appel. "Imprimis (C)." Harvard Business School Supplement 717-497, April 2017.
  • Purchase

About The Author

Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

Strategy
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • March 2025
    • Faculty Research

    adidas (B): Defining a Strategy for Reebok

    By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Claudio Feser and Karolin Frankenberger
    • March 2025
    • Faculty Research

    adidas (A): Defining a Strategy for Reebok

    By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karolin Frankenberger and Claudio Feser
    • February 2025
    • Faculty Research

    RHI Magnesita Video Supplement

    By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell
More from the Authors
  • adidas (B): Defining a Strategy for Reebok By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Claudio Feser and Karolin Frankenberger
  • adidas (A): Defining a Strategy for Reebok By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karolin Frankenberger and Claudio Feser
  • RHI Magnesita Video Supplement By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.