Evironmental Analysis

New Products

Alcon has once again capitalized on the extensive research and resource controlled by the company to produce a drug that helps treat an eye condition that can lead to blindness. The drug is named Jetrea and was approved by the FDA for use in the United States on October 17th 2012 ("Fda approves jetrea," 2012). Jetrea treats a condition called symptomatic vitreomacular adhesion, VMA. Jetrea is an enzyme that breaks down proteins in the eye responsible for VMA ("Fda approves jetrea," 2012). The effectiveness and safety of Jetrea has been confirmed with two studies done with a total of 652 patients. Alcon is the first and only company to produce and safe and effective drug to combat VMA ("Fda approves jetrea," 2012).

Competition

Competition is heavy in every industry and the eye care industry is no different. Alcon has been challenged to continually push to be the foremost company in products, technology, quality, and relationships with eye care providers (Alcon, 2012). Alcon may be the number one eye care provider in the world, with a strong foothold in the majority of the industry but Alcon often is challenged by the competition. Alcon’s competition often forms strategic alliances to produce comparable eye care products. Specifically in the United States, competition produces generic alternatives to Alcon’s products that use similar active ingredients. Although these generics do not have the quality and brand names produced by Alcon, they also do not incur the expensive advertising and marketing costs to promote a need for such products (Alcon, 2012). Generic brands can in return be sold for lower prices; consumers have taken notice and began in recent years purchasing more generic products over brand name.

Environmental Regulation/Impact

Research, development, and production at Alcon involve the controlled use of some hazardous materials (Novartis, 2013). Local, state, and federal governments in the United States and in Europe tightly regulate...