Cymbalta

Case Analysis of Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta | |

By Erica Jones | |

Identification of the strategic issues and problems

The case analysis of Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta begins with the company first being established in 1876 by Colonel Eli Lilly, who was a pharmacist and veteran of the Civil War in Indianapolis, Indiana. Lilly’s first renowned success came from the development of gelatin-coating pills allowing easier swallowing and lead to further scientific advancements such the development of oral penicillin products and other advancing classes of antibiotics. In 1998 the company developed Prozac and the company relied heavily on the successes of this new development for years to come until additional drugs were developed. (Ofek & Laufer, 2008)

The success of Lilly’s products gave the company hope that they could develop newer products. But before they could move on laid one problem; the patent for Prozac would soon expire in December 2003 and the company needed to formulate a new drug that would better serve the needs of patients currently suffering from depression and before generic versions of the drug came on to the market. This new drug would be the company’s successor to Prozac, the flagship drug that earns more than $2 Billion in annual sales. The biggest problem Lilly faced was that this new drug would have to be launched at a minimum 18 months before the patent for Prozac expired and time was limited. (Ofek & Laufer, 2008)

A brief SWOT analysis will be conducted for Eli Lilly in an effort to examine the organization’s external and internal environments and how they will affect overall decisions that need to be made. The acronym SWOT describes the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a business in order for the organization to effectively reach its goal develop strategies, programs and finally implantation.  (Kotler & Keller, 2008) The following SWOT fro Eli Lilly can be broken down into two main factors;...