Merck & Co. Pharmaceutical Company & Use of Emerging Technology

 

Merck & Co. Pharmaceutical Company & Use of Emerging Technology

Contents

Contents Executive summary Company background Competitive environment Company's innovation capability Technology Description Analysis of technology Analysis of company's option Recommendations References

Executive summary

In this review, the primary subject is the ‘business case for CEO of Merck Pharmaceutical Company, it focuses on the competitive advantage of the Company and the new norms and trends in the industry .This report focuses on ideas developing in the market and what are the key strengths of the Company to rely upon in the future. It also examines upon the Company innovation capabilities and what novel services and products it has got for its consumers. This report also focuses on the company progressive strategic options in future and the detailed analysis of them. It will also take in account where does Merck Co. fits in the industry and recommendations made to the CEO to maintain its place. The use of technology is also highlighted in the report that how the CEO of the company can use the technology to get a competitive edge and use it as an emerging tool in its industry.

Company background

Merck is a popular pharmaceutical company dealing in top quality high technology products in Health Care, Science and Performance Materials its logo is simple that is "Living Innovation" it has generated a revenue of USD 11.5 billion in 2014 with the 3 business sectors. Merck products are established and well known throughout the world for their world quality and well known products developed to deal with all kinds of diseases and problems. Merck is one of the oldest and well known pharmaceutical and chemical company. It was originally founded in 1668 in Darmstadt and with the rapid success company has reached the new horizons in Medical industry. (hess, d., rogovsky, n., & dunfee, t. W. (2002).) Head office in New York gave rise to the subsidiary four years later to Merck and co. After the World War 1 both of these companies separated and to make it easier to distinguish, the trademark refers to Darmstadt of Germany and holds the global rights to the name. The mission statement of the company is "our aspiration is to make great things happen" which lets us know that company focuses a lot on how things are to be managed and in order to fulfill this mission statement, company lays great emphasis on control systems and tools . And the corporate strategy of the company is focused towards success but equality towards the respect of employees, customers, providers of capital and society. These are the key stakeholders of the organization and upon which the organization lays great emphasis.

Competitive Environment

Over the past decade it can be seen that the pharmaceutical industry has seen a rapid increase in the competition globally because of intense brands and companies developing a range of products alongside the market for such vast target audience. Extreme brand price competition which usually occurs between the choices of insurers. Depending a lot on the pharmacist that what kind of medication it has referred to the consumer irrespective of the brand it refers and level of insurance plans. Primarily the competition in pharmaceutical industry focuses upon the discovery and development of new drug therapies therefore it requires sophisticated and modern technique and high development and expenditure cost on R&D and for this purpose if we take a look on the top countries developing new drugs it can be seen that Germany ,UK and USA are the top of the list also due to the shift in the industry towards the increasing amount of outsourcing small, low cost producers in the developing nations it has led to US and EU dominate the market. In order to remain competitive the ones which dominate the industry must continuously develop new products, gain more and more technical knowledge and enhance their research and development skills to maintain their position. If we take a look upon Merck position in this competitive industry it can be seen that Merck dominates the market with having an annual revenue USD $ 48.07 billion. It is included in the top 7 most profitable and dominating companies in the pharmaceutical industry. Its main competitors are Pfizer, Saffian, and Brystel, MyorsSquib, GlaxoSmithKline.Co, Johnson and Johnson. If we take a closer look at it competitors we can see that:

Direct comparison with competitors	Merck co	Glaxo smith Kline co	Pfizer co
Revenue	42.24B	33.85B	49.60B
Net income	11.92 B	4.06B	9.08B
Employees	70,000	97921	78300
EPS (TTM)	4.07	1.67	1.42

Looking upon the position of Merck (Scherer, F. M. (2000)). We can evaluate that company is performing well and has maintained it position in this strict competition .The main reason for Merck being so profitable and being competitively is it vast product development. It has introduced new ranges of vaccines and drugs to treat some of the rarest diseases such as cancer of different types, Alzheimer and diabetes alongside its calibration with World Health Organization (WHO) to research upon a lot of neglected tropical diseases. Such calibration has allowed the company to improve its competitive advantage and continues research and strategic development further ads to the expertise of the Merck Company. According to Forbes, Merck is only that company which has recently added 8500 jobs to the list providing new opportunities for employee’s .Hence this allows the Merck Company to be capable enough to operate and survive in a competitive environment.

Company's innovation capability

Merck Company has a high diverse portfolio of products for its consumers and this is due the research and development and introduction of new technological ideas. Company is continuously developing and discovering new medicines and vaccines in order to save more lives of people. Recently Merck research laboratories have found out post-doctoral research fellow program. Innovative research begins with the people and Merck has employed the leading scientist who are working on different researches and projects to produce new products and treat different diseases .Researchers take a deep look at each and every molecule and how it interacts and behaves in order to have a deeper understanding of the disease mechanisms and how to prevent it. A lot of new researches are in the pipe line such, for HPV related cancers, fertility problems, melanoma, contraception medicated, Ebola vaccine, diabetes Mellite, gastric cancer, head and neck cancer, hepatitis C and many more. With such a vast research phase going on and development on such a large scale we can rely on Merck’s innovation capability.

Technology Description

The pharmaceutical market has been increasingly being more influenced through laws and principals but has shown developing prosperity as the interpretation and in depth understanding of diseases and condition has drastically improved. Detailed interpretation of clinical studies for bio pharmaceuticals, prevention and treatment of certain cancers, coagulants and non-coagulants are all under the heading of pharmaceutical markets Research reports. Drug devices, instrumentation and inhibitors are part of this. In 2013 US food and drug administration authority granted breakthrough therapy designation for advanced malignant melanoma. In May 2013 Merck announced the expansion for contraceptive access for millions of women in some of the poorest countries of the world. With the use of technology vaccine for HIV infection has been introduced and on a vast scale is provided to the infants and females in the poorest countries. The Company has a target of removing and curing the tropical diseases and rarest diseases in the poorest race going of the world by 2020. The latest emerging trends in technology that can be seen as follow:

• In cretin based drug testing therapeutics was valued nearly $11.8 billion in 2013 and annual growth of 12.49% since 2014 and this is valuable for the treatment of diabetes worldwide.
• Therapeutics for silent cancers is now being valued at $8.5 billion and has reached an annual growth of 8.5% since 2014. As the disease gets common and reaching the masses its treatment is also to be vulnerable and reachable.
• Emerging technology also claims treatments for allergy diagnostics and treatments as this is rapidly reaching the masses.
• Avanti-um crystallization system is now the techno biz crystallization system and various new ideas relating to it has captured market which includes crystal breeder, crystalline and crystal 16

The next big thing is gene technology and using Nano technology (Kumar, C. S. (2010) in the genomes and DNA sequencing, drug delivery (Park, K. (2007). Nanotechnology, tissue engineering, medical devices. Blood purification and sensing and catalyst reactions inside the body and it treatment for various syndromes and abnormalities in the sequence is the next thing top companies are looking forward. With the use of technology the Company is being able to create a sustainable environment and has laid focus in being environment Friendly and key risk to environment are being removed. (Borris, R. P. (1996).

Analysis of technology

Nanotechnology is a unique approach to problem solving and can be considered as a collection of tools and new ideas which can be applied in pharmaceutical industry. Application of nanotechnology tools in pharmaceutical R&D is likely to result in moving the industry from ‘blockbuster drug’ model to ‘personalized medicine’. There are amazing applications in pharmaceutical industry where cheap nanotechnology tools can be applied.. The report tells the probability of checking numerous nanotechnology ideas to meet the requirements in pharmaceutical R&D. Nanotechnology tools are helpful in adding value to existing products for existing markets as well as being diverse in new markets. In addition to use of synthetic methods, Nano materials are being developed as effective catalysts and helpful for solid-phase organic synthesis Nanotechnology being a new method received a lot of appreciation and grasped the eyes of many in the pharmacist industry. In drug delivery, nanotechnology it’s about to make an effective impact. Many of the recent “Nano” drug delivery systems, however, are left overs of traditional drug delivery systems that happen to be in the nanometer range, such as liposomes, polymeric micelles, Nano particles, dendrimers, and Nano crystals. Liposomes and polymer micelles were developed in 1960’s, and nanoparticles and dendrimers in 1970’s. Colloidal gold particles in nanometer sizes were developed more than 150 years ago, but their association with nano particles or nanotechnology was established recently. The allure of specialized medicine has been renewed more effective ways of sequencing genes a top level research priority. One developing technique involves reading DNA bases using changes in electrical current as they are passed through a Nano scope hole. Researchers are finding out new effective ways to find the DNA sequence so that they can determine genetic structure as the sequence and shape and coding on the DNS sequence helps to determine possible health and risk factors and diseases. .When DNA strands are passed through a nano pore with a voltage difference across the pore, you can analyze each molecule in the DNA strand by the amount of current passing across the Nano pore. The issue with this technique is that if DNA molecules are unable to pass through the Nano tube of the hole is half cm or thicker the reaction cannot take place. Hence the Nano tube and pore of the tube are to be accurate size. DNA molecules are sequenced by evaluating the electrical conductance of a phi29 DNA polymerase as it includes UN distinguished nucleotides into a template strand of DNA. The conductance of the polymerase is monitored by sequencing it to a protein transistor that consists of an antibody molecule (immunoglobulin G) attached to two gold nanoparticles, which are in turn connected to source and drain electrodes. The electrical conductance of the DNA polymerase takes place at a rate of ~22 nucleotides per second. If more spikes appear on top of the plat-eaux it will be able to highlight between the four different types nucleotides. Analysis of company option Nanotechnologies hold huge impact to evolve evolution in the field of medicine through various application .If Merck uses Nano technology for the genomic sequencing of DNA and in the drug delivery it will have the following impacts:

• It will improve, cost-effective tissue engineering and making of bespoke implants which will be analyzed through the combination of Nano materials’ size and physical properties
• Drug delivery (Hongbao, M. (2005) is vitalized through both the enhancement and targeting and bioavailability of existing medicinal substances, along with the discovery of entirely new range of substances and Nano materials, which offers a new range of advantages over traditional drug-delivery methods, incorporating the targeted delivery to diseased sites only, and the enhanced adsorption, delivery and duration of medicines around the body.
• Diagnostics are enhanced by nanotechnology-based on new ideas including the introduction of enhanced sensitivity and rationality ( Van Horn, C., Cleary, J., & Fichtner, A. (2009).to advanced fast screening processes used by lab-on-a-chip devise.
• DNA with the combination of nanotechnology tends to offer us a wide range of benefits. the structure of DNA, is a double-stranded molecule which will unzip to form somewhat of a branched molecule .The DNA molecules can be verified in a way that we can extract valuable structures that will help many different applications.
• In terms of practical applications, DNA-based nanotechnology can be implemented to build electronics. Along with this medical applications such as drug design can extract value from this technology. Some molecules are cannot crystallize hence with the help of DNA it could provide the basic support, which would help in X-ray applications to get images of the molecular structures.
• Along with this DNA can be used (Seedman, N. C. (1999) With nanotechnology to build synthetic fibers.
• PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) is a widely used traditional method. This method translates the segments of DNA in order to decode the genome. It requires a lot of DNA multiplication hence a lengthy process and uses special reagents. With the use of Nano pore technology, only one DNA will be required and DNA replication is not needed. The decoding speed will be one micro second (a millisecond) for a single base. Hence its a quick and rapid process with the results being satisfactory.

Looking upon the options Merck has we can see that pharmaceutical industry is rapidly expanding and there can’t be a monopoly (Angell, M. (2008).) hence the introduction and use of NANO technology in different segments may seem useful.

Recommendations

Merck Company apparently seems to be profitable and is strategically successful to retain its share in the market. Hence in order to maintain the position Merck Company needs to take various steps.

• The main threat to the industry is the presence of too many competitors and continues to persist because of the evolving new diseases in the industry. Subsequently the US economy had been facing an economic downturn hence the risk of not performing well and profitable also prevails.
• Firstly the Company needs to keep updated itself in area of research and technology a range of products is offered but the range should be diversified not just to medicines and consumers products but to general lifestyle day to day use of products and to animal and plants too so that entire species take an advantage of it.
• Secondly the Company need to expand its market in not just US Germany and Europe but has to take it to middle east and other countries this can b done by extensive marketing and capturing target the people there .the consumer demands of people living far apart in these areas need to be taken in account.
• Thirdly pricing strategy need to take a look in account the agreements made with insurance companies need to reviewed and made well according to the massive consumer requirements .alongside with the introduction of new technology and different vaccines to treat different kind of diseases it’s important that the company keeps in mind and caters the need of its users and spends capital on R&D.
• A great amount of spending is required on R&D for the continuous update and improvement in the technology and for the uptake of opportunities in this field the research phase requires up date and renewal hence requires a capital and funding to be spend upon it.
• Use of Nano technology is the next big thing to look upon hence Merck should look forward to work upon it and spend some research cost upon it initially but this technology is for the future and looking upon for the bright future Merck should check upon for the upcoming project.
• Overall if seen Merck serves to have a lot of new ideas and innovation in order to survive and cater the requirements of it users and 3 business sector medicine and health care and performability materials are to be taken into account and take at new levels. Hess, D., Rogovsky, N., & Dunfee, T. W. (2002)
• Recently Merck established it sustainable report in 2103 showing that it concerns with the environment and key risks concerning the environment are (Bierly, P., & Chakrabarti, A. (1996).) to be catered and kept in mind. Overall the Company is fast growing and profitable and in order to maintain its stance it need to keep in account all these factors.

References

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3. Bierly, P., & Chakrabarti, A. (1996). Generic knowledge strategies in the US pharmaceutical industry. Strategic management journal, 17(S2), 123-135.

4. Scherer, F. M. (2000). The pharmaceutical industry.Handbook of health economics, 1, 1297-1336.

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6. Angell, M. (2008). Industry-sponsored clinical research: a broken system. Jama, 300(9), 1069-1071.

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9. Hess, D., Rogovsky, N., & Dunfee, T. W. (2002). The next wave of corporate community involvement: Corporate social initiatives. California Management Review, 44(2), 110-125.

10. Kumar, C. S. (2010). Nanotechnology tools in pharmaceutical R&D. Materials Today, 12, 24-30.

11. Hongbao, M. (2005). Development application of polymerase chain reaction (PCR). J. Am. Sci, 1(3), 1-15.
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13. Van Horn, C., Cleary, J., & Fichtner, A. (2009). The workforce needs of pharmaceutical companies in New Jersey that use nanotechnology: preliminary findings. New Brunswick.
14. Park, K. (2007). Nanotechnology: What it can do for drug delivery. Journal of controlled release: official journal of the Controlled Release Society, 120(1-2), 1.

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