What company is the case about: Nucleon a biotechnology company (specialized R&D) One of over 200 firms
Case Facts:
Need one strong patent on the right molecule and that can ensure survival for years by allowing the company to attract capital
Very difficult to patent the process technology used to obtain a biologically important molecule (hard to predict how the courts would rule)
May also take several years to process an application and large risks with going ahead with development without the patent
Nucleon has a strong patent position for CRP-1 molecule but not so certain about the rights to the other necessary proprietary components i.e. the genetic sequence
Nucleon must pick the right projects the first time and cannot gamble with a big portfolio of projects
Must also be in the loop about new scientific research which requires them to attract the best in-house scientist and maintain close contact with universities
It’s imperative that Nucleon gets its products into the clinic before their competition does. Nucleon’s competition is not direct in that they are working directly on cell regulating proteins, but the projects that they are working on require similar technology and others are developing drugs for the same disease that the cell regulating factors are being developed.
All Biotechnology firms started as specialized R&D laboratories Some vertically integrated into production or marketing
Nucleon can’t afford to market its own product therefore they will link up with the best company in each therapeutic market. It makes no sense for them to go up against companies that already have hundreds of salespeople
Before launching a research project for a new drug they considered 3 factors. (1) there had to be a chance of achieving a dominant position. (2) the market had to be large enough to justify the R&D investment. (3)