Publications
Publications
- April 2017
- HBS Case Collection
Imprimis (D)
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karen Elterman and Marc Appel
Abstract
This case is a supplement to Imprimis (A, B, & C). It describes Imprimis’s 2015 decision to develop a $1 per pill compounded alternative to Daraprim, the branded drug that had recently undergone an extreme price hike, raising its price to $750 per pill. Imprimis also created compounded alternatives to several other branded drugs and made investments to increase its manufacturing capabilities. The company now had to decide where to focus its efforts in the future. In developing innovative compounded formulations, should it base its decisions on market size, either by population or dollar size? Should it concentrate instead on the level of exploitation by the branded drug manufacturers—how much they had raised prices by, in what amount of time? Or should it decide instead based on the life-threatening nature of the disease, regardless of how many people were afflicted? The company had to balance these choices with the expansion of its core ophthalmology business while continuing to raise funds from investors.
Keywords
Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States
Citation
Casadesus-Masanell, Ramon, Karen Elterman, and Marc Appel. "Imprimis (D)." Harvard Business School Supplement 717-498, April 2017.