INTRODUCTION

Biocon India was incorporated as a joint venture in 1978 between Biocon Chemicals
and Dr. Mazumdar- Shaw who was a Indian Entrepreneur. In 1979, Biocon became
the first Indian company to manufacture and export to the enzymes to Europe and
USA. With success they established Syngene International, a subsidiary custom
research company with the vision of entering Bio-Pharmaceuticals. This move was
also triggered by Unilevers resistance to comply with this move, a higher demand, a
bigger market potential and expiring patents of major brands. They also moved into
the insulin market which was a large global market with especially India accounting
for 20% of global diabetic population. By this time Biocon had also developed
technological capabilities and capacities to produce Insulin. Having established as an
upcoming brand with strong financials and technology, Biocon tried to move into
proprietary drugs with BIOMAb with a vision to look for interesting products to
develop from all over the world and leveraging expertise in return for a joint
ownership of the intellectual property. Biocon thus entered a joint venture with
CIMAB, a Cuban company that would license Biocon to develop and market Cancer
related drug in the Indian Subcontinent. With CancerVax, a Californian biotech firm,
receiving a US government approval to license drugs by CIMAB, Biocon got the
opportunity to commercialize the product within the US, Canada, Western Europe,
Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico.

COMPETITION
BIOMAb faced competition in the form of Erbitux, a head and cancer drug that was in
line to be distributed across India developed by Merck. The drug had received phase
3 approval by the time of its tentative arrival in India. It was a high end speciality
product which commanded large premiums. However, BIOMAb had shown better
results in Phase-2 testing and also did not produce side effects like skin rashes. The
product being essentially Indian also helped Biocon leverage the fact against
Erbitux.

PROBLEM
Biocon faced a challenge of a launch decision. They were unsure whether to launch a
product immediately or not, and if so then with or without the use of generic cancer
drugs.

OPTIONS
Biocon can either go for immediate launch of the product, simultaneous launch of
cancer generics with BIOMAb or launching BIOMAb only after cancer generics. These
options can be evaluated keeping in consideration that BIOMAb have a first mover
advantage, an Indian connect, flexibility of pricing, immense phase 2 trials success.

While immediate launch

4P Analysis

Product
The testing of BIOMAb has shown positive results. It shows 100% cure rate when
being used in combination with chemo and radiotherapy. The rate is lesser when
used alone or with one of chemo or radiotherapies. It also shows lesser side effects
in terms of skin rash when compared to Erbitux. Erbitux is marketed in India through
Merck. BIOMAb will be the first ever proprietary drug developed and marketed by an
Indian firm, for the Indian patients. In house sales capabilities are developed by
selling the high end speciality products which can be further leveraged for catering
to international markets as well. As for the packaging of the product, 4 Injections of
10ml each is packed in a cardboard box. The colours used on the cardboard box are
same as those used in standard Biocon products (Blue and White). A single SKU is
used.

Price
Since the product is developed in India itself and marketed under an Indian name,
the price is kept low enough to project affordability for the Indian market. These
prices are substantially low compared to the global market. The price is set at $3000
per dose of BIOMAb in order to gain an advantage over the competitor as well as
keep a sufficient profit margin. Since a big chunk of the market includes blue collared
workers, the image of Low price will work to our advantage as it will not indicate an
image of low quality and portrays affordability. After considering the costs involved
and the projected revenues using the price of $3000 per dose, the breakeven period
is found to be 2.44 years.

Place
Excellent coverage of the market is obtained with the support of Clearing and
Forwarding agent (CFA). Time delivery is an important factor. So, the existing
capabilities can be used to do overnight deliveries to the oncologist. Use Biocons
existing offices to develop a dedicated sales force for BIOMAb. Utilizing the direct
delivery system will reduce the margin for channels by 25% to 1.5%, thus eliminating
the need for a dedicated channel. This will offer greater benefits to the end-user. This
will in-turn increase the acceptability over the foreign drug (Erbitux).

Promotion
The number of leading cancer specialists in the country is 300. Using the phase-2
results, a 100 of these specialists can be targeted. Over time, the other 200 can be
targeted after the phase-3 results. The patients queries can be addressed by
supporting them through information on website, consumer helplines, sales force
and advertising. The confidence of the patients and their families along with the
doctors can be boosted using appropriate forms of communication. Celebrities who
have a personal connection to the fight over the disease can be used to endorse the
product. Training the dedicated sales force with better conviction skills to establish
the true value of the product.