Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem

Willy C.  Shih

Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2019

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem

Abstract

Vaccines for children has been a long-standing focus for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and its critical role in public health made its production an important economic and political issue. This case describes the Foundation's investment in a breakthrough vaccine manufacturing platform for the Sabin inactivated polio virus. While the new technology promised a much lower cost per dose, it also raised questions about the consequences of lowering entry barriers to vaccine production, maintaining high quality and production standards, a strong regulatory environment were critical to protecting the integrity of the vaccine supply. The new technology also threatened to encourage more developed country vaccine manufacturers to exit the market, not an outcome the Foundation was hoping for, as they possessed the capabilities and resources to invest in future developments. It raises the question of whether vaccines are a public good, and who should be responsible for their production.

Keywords: vaccine; Production; Supply Chain; Product; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Belgium;

Language: English

Format: Print

25 pages

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Citation:

Shih, Willy C. "Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem." Harvard Business School Case 620-021, September 2019.

Related Work

Case | HBS Case Collection | December 2019

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem (Abridged)

Willy Shih, Willy Shih, Willy Shih, Willy Shih, Willy Shih and Willy Shih

This case describes the efforts of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to lower the cost of producing vaccines to prevent polio infections. It is an abridged version of HBS Case No. 620-021 with less emphasis on comparison between traditional and the new compact modular process developed with the Foundation's funding. It focuses more on the lowering of entry barriers to vaccine manufacture and some of the perceived risks associated with that.

Keywords: vaccine; manufacturing; Barriers to entry; Production; Cost; Technological Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Pharmaceutical Industry;

Citation:
Shih, Willy. "Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 620-071, December 2019. View Details

Cite View Details Educators Purchase Related
Case | HBS Case Collection | December 2019

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem (Abridged)

Willy Shih, Willy Shih, Willy Shih, Willy Shih, Willy Shih and Willy Shih

This case describes the efforts of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to lower the cost of producing vaccines to prevent polio infections. It is an abridged version of HBS Case No. 620-021 with less emphasis on comparison between traditional and the new compact modular process developed with the Foundation's funding. It focuses more on the lowering of entry barriers to vaccine manufacture and some of the perceived risks associated with that.

Keywords: vaccine; manufacturing; Barriers to entry; Production; Cost; Technological Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Pharmaceutical Industry;

Citation:
Shih, Willy. "Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 620-071, December 2019. View Details

Cite View Details Educators Purchase Related
Case | HBS Case Collection | December 2019

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem (Abridged)

Willy Shih, Willy Shih, Willy Shih, Willy Shih, Willy Shih and Willy Shih

This case describes the efforts of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to lower the cost of producing vaccines to prevent polio infections. It is an abridged version of HBS Case No. 620-021 with less emphasis on comparison between traditional and the new compact modular process developed with the Foundation's funding. It focuses more on the lowering of entry barriers to vaccine manufacture and some of the perceived risks associated with that.

Keywords: vaccine; manufacturing; Barriers to entry; Production; Cost; Technological Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Pharmaceutical Industry;

Citation:
Shih, Willy. "Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 620-071, December 2019. View Details

Cite View Details Educators Purchase Related
Case | HBS Case Collection | December 2019

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem (Abridged)

Willy Shih, Willy Shih, Willy Shih, Willy Shih, Willy Shih and Willy Shih

This case describes the efforts of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to lower the cost of producing vaccines to prevent polio infections. It is an abridged version of HBS Case No. 620-021 with less emphasis on comparison between traditional and the new compact modular process developed with the Foundation's funding. It focuses more on the lowering of entry barriers to vaccine manufacture and some of the perceived risks associated with that.

Keywords: vaccine; manufacturing; Barriers to entry; Production; Cost; Technological Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Pharmaceutical Industry;

Citation:
Shih, Willy. "Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 620-071, December 2019. View Details

Cite View Details Educators Purchase Related
Case | HBS Case Collection | December 2019

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem (Abridged)

Willy Shih, Willy Shih, Willy Shih, Willy Shih, Willy Shih and Willy Shih

This case describes the efforts of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to lower the cost of producing vaccines to prevent polio infections. It is an abridged version of HBS Case No. 620-021 with less emphasis on comparison between traditional and the new compact modular process developed with the Foundation's funding. It focuses more on the lowering of entry barriers to vaccine manufacture and some of the perceived risks associated with that.

Keywords: vaccine; manufacturing; Barriers to entry; Production; Cost; Technological Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Pharmaceutical Industry;

Citation:
Shih, Willy. "Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 620-071, December 2019. View Details

Cite View Details Educators Purchase Related
Case | HBS Case Collection | December 2019

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem (Abridged)

Willy Shih, Willy Shih, Willy Shih, Willy Shih, Willy Shih and Willy Shih

This case describes the efforts of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to lower the cost of producing vaccines to prevent polio infections. It is an abridged version of HBS Case No. 620-021 with less emphasis on comparison between traditional and the new compact modular process developed with the Foundation's funding. It focuses more on the lowering of entry barriers to vaccine manufacture and some of the perceived risks associated with that.

Keywords: vaccine; manufacturing; Barriers to entry; Production; Cost; Technological Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Pharmaceutical Industry;

Citation:
Shih, Willy. "Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 620-071, December 2019. View Details

Cite View Details Educators Purchase Related

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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem

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