15.363/HST.363  Strategic Decision Making in the Biomedical Business

Final Stretch!

By now, everyone has turned in their final assignment (hopefully!) and received the second part of the case.

As you will discover as you read the case, you have to prepare for an extraordinary meeting of the board of directors of Octagon that will take place during the first hour of class on Tuesday.

The purpose of the meeting will be to define the financing and clinical strategies for the companies as two of its compounds move from Phase I to Phase II. Each team of Founders, CEOs, VCs or Pharma Execs will have to determine what is the strategy that most benefits their own position, while keeping in mind that as Board Members, your responsibility is to maximize value creation for all share holders. At the end of this one hour board meeting you will be required to reach agreement as to what molecules are advancing to the next clinical phase, and how will those trials be financed (and thus, the capitalization structure of the company). If any group of teams fails to reach agreement all teams within that group will be severely penalized.

During dinner the outcomes of each clinical study will be determined.

After dinner you will reconvene with your team and group to decide on the fate of Octagon.

I strongly suggest that all teams make an effort to communicate with other teams in their group to try to seek alignment prior to Tuesday's class, as reaching agreement during a one hour meeting will be a tall order.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, do not hesitate to contact us, and most importantly, have fun!

Andrey

Announced on 30 April 2010  7:53  p.m. by Andrey Zarur

Final Project Case Study and Logistics

I've just posted the case study for the final project. Separately you will receive an email from Meera with the specific assignment for each team of Founders, CEO, VCs or Partners. If you do not get this by the end of today, please email us.

You will have up to Friday April 30th to turn in the assignment. One we get your submission you will receive the second part of the assignment which you will need to prepare for the final negotiations. Obviously, the sooner you finish the first part the better prepared you will be for the final negotiations.

Your assignment must include all the background primary research, all assumptions clearly stated, all decision trees constructed to reach your decision, and a write up with your conclusions.

As always, let us know if you have any questions.

Andrey

Announced on 20 April 2010  8:33  a.m. by Andrey Zarur

HW4 due date changed

Announced on 06 April 2010  8:28  p.m. by Meera Saini

Midterm correction

Announced on 17 March 2010  9:24  a.m. by Meera Saini

Mid-Term Posted

I've just uploaded the Mid-Term assignment. It is now due on April 6th. We made a small change to make Meera's life easier: instead of 4 companies, you will have two companies to choose from: Synta and Amgen. Please let me know via email (azarur@kodiakvp.com) if you have any questions or comments.

Have a nice break!

Andrey

Announced on 13 March 2010  10:38  a.m. by Andrey Zarur