Glaxo Wellcome Mini Case
Glaxo Wellcome Inc.
Mini-case Report
April 2, 2007
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Executive Summary
Glaxo Wellcome Inc’s primary business is to market prescription products to physicians and health care providers. One of the top three pharmaceutical firms in the world, Glaxo Wellcome Inc. held about 4 percent of the worldwide prescription pharmaceutical market. The U.K. based company was formed in 1995 when Glaxo Pharmaceuticals acquired Burroughs Wellcome. While the company is based in the U.K., the U.S. market represented approximately 40 percent of worldwide sales while the U.K. produced about seven percent. As of 1997 Glaxo Wellcome Inc. had 22 local operating companies in nine countries including the U.S. Because of the harsh requirements of the Food and Drug administration (FDA) most products are introduced in one of the other eight countries before seeking U.S. approval.
Migraine medicine is a primary growth area for Glaxo. The company was first to manufacture and market triptans, a new class of prescription migraine medicine. Triptans were launched in 1993 and work specifically on the 5HT-1 receptor sites believed to be the primary cause of migraine headaches. Imitrex was the first triptan produced and sold by Glaxo in the U.S. The concern now is how the company should best market the second-generation triptan by the company, Amerge. This will be the first time a pharmaceutical company has two prescription triptans available on the market.
Problem Statement and Key Issues
Glaxo Wellcome’s U.S. division faces the task of determining a positioning strategy for their new triptan, Amerge, to increase total market share in the currently underdeveloped migraine market. Not only should the marketing decisions combat pressure from competitors with comparable products, but also the pharmaceutical marketers must elevate the importance of the new product’s placement on the formularies of managed care plans. Additionally, the development of a direct-to-consumer (DTC)
Mini-case Report
April 2, 2007
[pic]
Executive Summary
Glaxo Wellcome Inc’s primary business is to market prescription products to physicians and health care providers. One of the top three pharmaceutical firms in the world, Glaxo Wellcome Inc. held about 4 percent of the worldwide prescription pharmaceutical market. The U.K. based company was formed in 1995 when Glaxo Pharmaceuticals acquired Burroughs Wellcome. While the company is based in the U.K., the U.S. market represented approximately 40 percent of worldwide sales while the U.K. produced about seven percent. As of 1997 Glaxo Wellcome Inc. had 22 local operating companies in nine countries including the U.S. Because of the harsh requirements of the Food and Drug administration (FDA) most products are introduced in one of the other eight countries before seeking U.S. approval.
Migraine medicine is a primary growth area for Glaxo. The company was first to manufacture and market triptans, a new class of prescription migraine medicine. Triptans were launched in 1993 and work specifically on the 5HT-1 receptor sites believed to be the primary cause of migraine headaches. Imitrex was the first triptan produced and sold by Glaxo in the U.S. The concern now is how the company should best market the second-generation triptan by the company, Amerge. This will be the first time a pharmaceutical company has two prescription triptans available on the market.
Problem Statement and Key Issues
Glaxo Wellcome’s U.S. division faces the task of determining a positioning strategy for their new triptan, Amerge, to increase total market share in the currently underdeveloped migraine market. Not only should the marketing decisions combat pressure from competitors with comparable products, but also the pharmaceutical marketers must elevate the importance of the new product’s placement on the formularies of managed care plans. Additionally, the development of a direct-to-consumer (DTC)