ABSTRACT
When Rajiv Gandhi joined the family firm of suppliers of intermediates to pharmaceutical companies, it was already on a decline owing to changes in the value chain. Compelled by the events, he started distributing medicines to hospitals. Not satisfied with low margins and the constant fear of elimination of intermediaries, he ventured into the distribution of poultry vaccines and poultry healthcare medicines. Buoyed by success he set up Hester Biosciences Limited, a unit to produce poultry vaccines. Hester is the largest single-location poultry vaccine production unit in Asia today. Alliances, financial problems, product development, structural issues, distribution-related issues, and capacity expansion are some of the issues discussed in this case.
