Business Case Studies, Leadership Case Study, Tata Group,Ratan Tata

Code :BSM0026

Year : 2005

Industry : Health Care

Region : Null

Teaching Note:Not Available

Structured Assignment :Not Available

Abstract: The pharmaceutical industry's blockbuster business model seems to be fading off. Innovation is resulting in just a trickle of new drugs, Big Pharma is losing its patents and lawsuits are shaking up the industry. In August 2005, a Texas jury ordered the US drug company Merck, to pay US$253 million (£141 million) to the wife of a triathlete who died after taking the firm's blockbuster Vioxx. That was only the first of thousands of lawsuits filed against Merck on the same charge, the situation of Merck can well be extrapolated to the industry. What went wrong with the Big Pharma? Are the problems self-inflicted? For too long the industry relied on a belief that a single drug can cure a particular ailment in all the affected people across the globe. This belief stands refuted by the genetic mapping and the research thereof. New findings suggest that every individual's reaction to a particular drug is unique, based on their unique genetic setup. Every disease has a number of variants, again based on genetic variations, and therefore demands unique medication called personalised medicine. Clearly, analysts say that the days of the mass model of drugs have come to an end.