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Generic Drug Sub-Contractor wants to Stay Viable
The Situation:
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Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
 Challenge: develop a strategy to overcome marketplace forces.
Solutions: conducted research and PDSA’s, recommend solutions
 Results: forged profitable relationship with former competitor |
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Duramed had a generic conjugated estrogen formula that had passed FDA regulatory approval, a hurdle which took several years. Before the conjugated estrogen development Duramed had been a niche laboratory player and sub-contract supplier for a number of products to the pharmaceutical industry --for more than a decade.
Issue: Duramed was discouraged to find that distribution of its CE product was very difficult. Distributors were very reluctant to pick-up an independent lab and generic supplier, not only because Duramed was an unproven company in terms of ability to provide adequate supplies of the product, but also because distributors did not want to risk the business of Big Pharma who provided them with many products --including “brand name” CEs.
Implication: Duramed was deeply in debt because of the cost of developing the CE product, and the business was a risk.
Challenge: Duramed came to us for a marketing and sales strategy that could overcome the marketplace forces. We analyzed the situation and concluded that a Strategic Marketing Plan and related budget would be a waste of time and money. Nevertheless, we used our PDSA approach to quickly and inexpensively test our theories.
Solutions: The research we conducted and the PDSA’s we ran indicated a very rough road ahead for Duramed.
However, within 3 months we were able to recommend to Duramed’s owners that the company should consider a partnership with a larger player in the pharma world, and to negotiate an optional phased sale of Duramed to the larger player.
Outcome: Duramed was able to forge a profitable relationship with Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. which continues to this day –with Duramed, now, a wholly owned subsidiary.
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