ABSTRACT
Pioneering biopharmas set up their businesses by taking a molecule through clinical trials and finally outsourcing it to a bigger pharma on a royalty basis. Eventually, the most competent biopharmas, went after the traditional pharmaceutical business model, that is building a fully integrated pharmaceutical company that would commercialize new biopharmaceuticals, manufacture, promote, distribute and sell them. Ever since the dotcom era, the meaning of the term “business model” has been brought under the public eye. In studying the biopharmaceutical business models in existence, one cannot escape analyzing the omnipotent blockbuster model, which was originally implemented by big pharma, until the most prominent biopharmaceuticals reached the same status after years of their own commercial availability. Numerous attempts have been made in categorizing the widely diverse business models into distinct categories. For example, T. Reponen has identified three new major business models: platform or tool business model, product business model, and hybrid business model.
