Eli Lilly Developing Cymbalta

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Introduction In any business there is a certain amount of risk involved, but pharmaceutical research is extremely risky because the failure rate is a great deal higher than the success rate. Ofek and Laufer (2008) state that potentially one in five-thousand drugs actually make it to market after beginning in a lab and that the average time for a drug to make it to market is twelve years (p.1). Drug companies are able to patent a new drug and are given exclusivity rights once approved by the FDA for typically twenty years. This allows companies to recoup research and development costs as well as make a profit, which is the goal of any organization. Once a patent and exclusivity rights run out, generic drug manufactures tend to enter the market and drive down prices. The case 'Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta' written in 2008 by Elie Ofek and Ron Laufer, describes the problems facing the Eli Lilly company as its patent on its bread and butter drug, Prozac is about abut to run out, and how to address the problem. I will be identify the strategic issues identified in the case, providing an analysis of possible solutions, and finally making educated recommendations. Eli Lilly Strategy Issues Developing a New Antidepressant Team John Kaiser is the marketing directing at Eli Lilly with an impressive background as the former global marketing director for Prozac. In 1988 the miracle drug Prozac was the first of its kind to treat depression as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). By the 1990's other SSRI's such as Zoloft and Paxil also hit the marker which hit 9 billion in sales by 2000. Prozac was Eli Lilly's front runner on the drug market but was soon set to be available as a generic, thus losing significant market share and profits. It was anticipated that patients would begin purchasing the severely discounted generic drugs or that doctor's might

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