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
  • 2024
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

Prozac—Controversial Blockbuster: Case Histories of Transformational Advances

By: Amar Bhidé, Srikant M. Datar and Katherine Stebbins
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:18
ShareBar

Abstract

This case history describes the development of Prozac, a blockbuster drug that transformed the treatment of depression – and became a cultural phenomenon in the United States. Specifically, we chronicle the: 1) prior treatments for depression and the research that provided a foundation for Prozac, before 1970; 2) development of Prozac, from 1971 to 1987; and 3) rapid adoption in the US after 1988.

Keywords

Health Care and Treatment; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Technology Adoption; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Invention; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

Citation

Bhidé, Amar, Srikant M. Datar, and Katherine Stebbins. "Prozac—Controversial Blockbuster: Case Histories of Transformational Advances." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-135, July 2020. (Revised May 2024.)
  • SSRN

About The Author

Srikant M. Datar

→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • 2024
    • Faculty Research

    Cicely Saunders and Modern Hospices—A Brother’s View: Case Histories of Transformational Advances

    By: Amar Bhide and Srikant M. Datar
    • July 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Transformational Medical Advances: Computed Tomography

    By: Amar Bhide
    • July 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Transformational Medical Advances: Dame Saunders and the Hospice Movement: Tom Dickerson

    By: Amar Bhide
More from the Authors
  • Cicely Saunders and Modern Hospices—A Brother’s View: Case Histories of Transformational Advances By: Amar Bhide and Srikant M. Datar
  • Transformational Medical Advances: Computed Tomography By: Amar Bhide
  • Transformational Medical Advances: Dame Saunders and the Hospice Movement: Tom Dickerson By: Amar Bhide
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.