...Biopure Corporation: A Case Study Biopure Corporation specializes in blood substitutes for transfusion patients, both in the veterinary market and the human market. However, in 1998, Biopure faced the monumental decision of whether to begin selling Oxyglobin, a blood substitute, to the veterinary market or to wait until Hemoglobin, a blood substitute for the human market, became available for sale. Biopure’s problem was simple: should the company launch Oxyglobin before Hemoglobin is FDA-approved or wait until after Hemoglobin is approved and released into the human market. Ted Jacobs, vice president for Human Clinical Trials at Biopure Corporation, argued that Oxyglobin should be released later because Hemoglobin would not be able to be priced at such a high rate if the same product (for a different market) was charging much less. However, Andy Wright, vice president for Veterinary Products at Biopure Corporation, countered that Oxyglobin would increase the market and make people familiar with the Biopure name, thereby giving the company competitive edge in the human market. Our recommendation is to release Oxyglobin immediately rather than wait for Hemoglobin’s FDA-approval. The reasoning behind this decision follows from an analysis of both the veterinary blood substitute market and the human blood substitute market. Reasons to release Oxyglobin immediately are summarized in Exhibit A. This conclusion requires the Oxyglobin marketing team to make several subsequent decisions...
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...BIOPURE INDUSTRIES A Marketing Analysis Based on the data from the case study by Jonn Gourville, Biopure Corporation, HBS, 1998 April 20, 2005 By Veronica I. II. Stepanova Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………………… 2 Situation Analysis Human Market………………………………………………………………………..3 Animal Market………………………………………………………………………..5 Marketing Plan for Oxyglobin…………………………………………………………………….6 Final decision……………………………………………………………………………………...7 Appendix 1 A (Excel documents, separate attachment) Appendix 1 B Executive Summary • • • • Many opportunities are available in the human blood market due to several disadvantages of the currently available alternatives. Even more opportunities exist in the animal blood market. Oxyglobin should be positioned as a high-quality product designed for middle- to upper-class budgets. The price for Oxyglobin should be about $200 for the consumer and around $100 for the supplier (animal hospital) to account for distribution markups and other carrying costs. Distribution should be oriented in the regional vicinity of the operation and implement larger clinics. In addition, only emergency clinics are to be targeted. Current opportunities are favorable for Oxyglobin’s launch. 2 Situation Analysis I. Human blood market. • Patients with acute blood loss from trauma and surgery – 40% individuals aged 65+. • Chronic anemia patients (any age) – 1.5 million for the year 1995. • Blood loss, resulting from trauma (e...
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...As the saying goes, ‘it is better to lose a battle and win the war, rather than ruing the day’, a similar situation awaits Biopure. A solitary decision over a timely product launch would either allow them to capitalize on a market or lose the ‘war’ in the competitive field of blood transfusion substitutes. The idea of using blood substitutes as a replacement for the existing traditional methods of blood transfusion stemmed from the complications associated with the acquiring, handling and storing of whole blood. Biopure Corporation was one such company which had produced two products, Oxyglobin and Hemopure, both of which were bovine derived hemoglobin products. The advantages of these products over classic blood transfusion techniques included elimination of blood typing, cross matching and refrigeration steps, higher oxygen carrying capacity, increased shelf life of 2 years along with infectious and contamination free products as an end result. In addition, Oxyglobin was approved by the FDA. Owing to the privilege of being the sole supplier of blood substitutes in the veterinary industry, it had a huge potential to monopolize the market. The lack of competitors would generate a significant amount of revenue from which they could recover the development cost and would simultaneously allow Biopure strengthen their position in the market in case Hemopure gets approved by the FDA in the near future. Due to the aforementioned salient benefits, launching Oxyglobin seems logical and...
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...value and profit for the company. Maintaining a strong and compelling value proposition and long-term relationship with the company’s customers are vital for the company’s continued success and require constant monitoring of market, environmental, technological and competitive forces. Marketing is therefore integral to establishing a company’s strategic direction. This in turn makes marketing skills and perspective essential to the success of all business managers in any business. This course provides an in-depth exploration and practical application of basic marketing tools. These include product policy, pricing, promotion, distribution, sales management, and customer segmentation and retention. In most classes, we will analyze case studies that require us to identify marketing opportunities, refine value propositions, select customer segments and develop marketing programs for a variety of management situations. The course also includes a number of creative and analytic...
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...value and profit for the company. Maintaining a strong and compelling value proposition and long-term relationship with the company’s customers are vital for the company’s continued success and require constant monitoring of market, environmental, technological and competitive forces. Marketing is therefore integral to establishing a company’s strategic direction. This in turn makes marketing skills and perspective essential to the success of all business managers in any business. This course provides an in-depth exploration and practical application of basic marketing tools. These include product policy, pricing, promotion, distribution, sales management, and customer segmentation and retention. In most classes, we will analyze case studies that require us to identify marketing opportunities, refine value propositions, select customer segments and develop marketing programs for a variety of management situations. The course also includes a number of creative and analytic assignments, including a semester-long, group...
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