Economics homework help. Final Case Study Outline: Merck Pharmaceuticals (Keytruda®, Pembrolizumab)
- Title Page
- Title of the Paper- Focused on Merck Pharmaceuticals, particularly their blockbuster drug Keytruda® (Pembrolizumab)
- Name
- Correspondence
- Abstract
- Brief summary of key sections of the paper
- Keywords
- Introduction
- General overview of Merck Pharmaceuticals, their spectrum of pharmaceutical development
- Define what makes Merck newsworthy and their Research and Development Pipeline
- Focus on Merck’s strategies, overall vision, goals, business objectives
- Overview of Blockbuster drug- Keytruda® (Pembrolizumab); PD-1 inhibitor immunotherapy for treatment of various oncology indications (melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, urothelial carcinoma, metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, advanced gastric carcinoma, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, solid tumors)
- Focus on Merck’s Competitors with similar products:
- Roche (comparator product Tecentriq® or Atezolizumab)
- Bristol Meyers Squibb (comparator product Opdivo® or Nivolumab)
- Oligopoly vs. Pure Competition: what makes Merck maintain its competitive streak and what is the market structure
- Regulatory authorities: focus on Merck’s compliance programs:
- Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals created by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)
- Section 1: Demand Analysis Concepts:
- Apply the Law of Demand and Purchasing Power Effect:
- Evaluate the real value and demand for Ketruda® and similar new immunotherapy drugs with indications in multiple tumors to increase overall survival, improve morbidity and mortality, progression of disease, and quality of life
- Target Marketing (Oncology drugs and demand), Positioning, Subsitution
- Strategic Advertising
- Apply concepts of price elasticity of demand
- Apply the Law of Demand and Purchasing Power Effect:
- Section 2: Production and Cost Analysis Concepts:
- Assess the blend of labor vs. capital intensity in Merck Pharmaceuticals
- Assess fixed and variable costs
- Apply concepts of Returns to Scale, Diminishing Marginal Returns (if applicable)
- Section 3: Strategy Analysis Concepts:
- Value-based pricing
- Life Cycle Pricing: from clinical research with Keytruda® where it is provided free of cost to research patients to the FDA approval post-marketing and group pricing to hospitals (340-B pricing, patient assistance programs)
- Niche pricing
- “What they got right” Analysis:
- CEO’s vision and overall contribution to success: “The mission of Merck and other pharmaceutical companies at the time (1950s) was to take care of patients and profits would follow” to new mission statements
- Quality and consistency in delivery of products and services
- Conclusion:
- Summary of the most important concepts as applicable throughout the course/class and their applicability to Merck, with blockbuster product like- Keytruda®
- References:
- All references cited throughout the paper and a complete listing with full citations at the end