The clarification of investment opportunities is an important part of the investment decision. This thesis identifies and evaluates investment opportunities in the international health care market. The overall attractiveness of the sector is assessed based upon the analysis of selected subsectors, the definition of investment opportunities and risks, the profitability of shares and the flow of the private capital investments and the foreign direct investments in health care. In conclusion, health care is evaluated as an important source of significant and diverse investment opportunities in every developed economy.

The principal aim of this thesis is to describe methods of fundamental analysis of three major companies from sectors of Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals, namely Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Amgen. Among used methods we are able to find 2 -- stage discounted cashlow models Free-cashflow-to-equity FCFE and Free-cashflow-to-firm FCFF, Gordon's dividend discount model a relative valuation methods using P/E, P/BV and P/S. Descriptive part of this thesis describes legal and regulatory environment, which has significant impact on the development process of new innovative drugs and therapies. Further it sets investment recommendations and looks closer at investment opportunities in biotechnological companies.

Thesis advisor: James Anderson / National policy regarding parallel importation determines whether prices for a good protected by intellectual property rights are set in a segmented national market or in a larger international market. The innovative pharmaceutical industry has a cost structure which depends on patents and other intellectual property rights in order to recover the large sunk costs of research and development; parallel imports affect the ability of pharmaceutical firms to recover those costs. After discussing the international political context of parallel importation policy, international price differences, which create and are in turn affected by the possibility of parallel importation, are examined. Prices of name-brand pharmaceutical products are found to vary from the ideal of proportionality with income for several reasons, among them income inequality within a country. Applying simple theoretical assumptions about how prices are affected by the possibility of parallel importation, conditions are described under which allowing parallel importation can bring about price moderation. In other instances, parallel importation can have harmful external effects without bringing any benefit. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2003. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

A qualidade pode ser considerada um fator de competitividade na atualidade para indústria farmacêutica, que trata da saúde do indivíduo. As estratégias de diferenciação e liderança de custos são analisadas para este setor, considerando as suas dimensões. A gestão estratégica da qualidade corresponde a uma visão que insere a qualidade no planejamento estratégico. Para a análise da qualidade dos medicamentos abordam-se as características da indústria farmacêutica no mundo e no Brasil, os tipos de medicamentos produzidos, as normas utilizadas pelo setor que visam a qualidade do produto, e os estágios de desenvolvimento destes. A pesquisa realizada é descritiva, visando a análise das estratégias possíveis utilizadas pelo setor no Brasil e como as dimensões da qualidade são consideradas pelas empresas. Os medicamentos produzidos no país apresentam uma estratégia de diferenciação mercadológica, utilizando as dimensões de acordo com os objetivos da empresa. A qualidade, quando existe, é baseada na abordagem da produção (dimensões de conformidade e confiabilidade) e, em alguns casos, também na abordagem baseada no produto (dimensões de desempenho, características e durabilidade). / Today, quality can be considered a factor of competitiveness for the pharmaceutical industry, which deal with the health of individuals. The strategies of differentiation and cost command are analysed for this industry which considerers its dimensions. The goal of quality administration coincides with a viewpoint of integrating quality into strategic planning. From the analysis of quality of medication comes the characteristics of the pharmaceutical industry of the world and Brazil: the types of medication produced, the standards utilized in the industry, which deals with the quality of the product, and the stages of development of the product. The research done on this subject is thorough, it deals with the analysis of possible strategies utilized by the industry in Brazil, and how the companies consider the dimensions of quality. The medications produced in this country show a strategy of market differentiation, in accordance with the objectives of the company. The quality, when present, is based on the production (dimensions of conformity and fidelity) and, in some cases, the quality can be based on the product (dimensions of development, characteristics, and durability).

When speciality chemicals are manufactured within the pharmaceutical industry, they are often produced in stirred batch/semi-batch reactors. A ‘methodology’ was explored, to help with the development of continuous fixed-bed catalytic reactors for this sector. This was tested on two different types of model reactions: (a) In the first, the viability of producing tertiary amines via ‘borrowing hydrogen’ was explored, and the reaction of morpholine and benzyl alcohol was studied, on Ru and Pt catalysts. This provided an opportunity for an early involvement in small-scale batch testing of catalysts, and then experiments were performed with the catalyst supported on granules in a packed bed (i.d. = 7 mm, length = 300 mm). Although it was shown that continuous processing is viable, and that high conversions (e.g. 73 to 98%, at 150 ºC) could be achieved, unfortunately further work was necessary to identify a more robust catalyst system, before moving on to pilot-scale trials. (b) In the second, the partial oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde was studied, using a Pt catalyst on a carbon support. This proved to be successful, and the reaction was finally demonstrated at pilot-scale. Carbon monoliths were used as catalyst supports (monolith o.d. = 19 mm; length = 50 mm long; square 0.7 mm x 0.7 mm channels; catalyst loading 2.5 and 2.7 wt% Pt). With a liquid flow of 1 L h-1 and a reactant concentration of ~1 mol L-1, operating at 110 ºC, conversion ranged from 80 to 90% and selectivity from 65 to 99%. The catalyst system was tested for 160 h of operation, and retained its performance. While testing the 2nd reaction, a pilot-scale reactor was also developed, which could be used for a variety of novel reactions. The design was flexible and it was easy to insert and remove the catalytic monoliths.

Os dados sobre a Indústria Farmacêutica do Rio Grande do Sul são esparsos e desatualizados. Porém, são indispensáveis para o conhecimento do seu desempenho e o estabelecimento de estratégias para o seu aprimoramento. Este trabalho objetivou traçar o perfil da indústria farmacêutica gaúcha, através da analise das características gerais das empresas, dos aspectos relacionados aos recursos humanos, aos sistemas produtivos e de qualidade, aos produtos, e aos fatores atrelados à tecnologia e ao mercado, além de verificar a adequação do elenco de medicamentos produzidos aos Programas Governamentais de Assistência Farmacêutica. A partir de pesquisa descritiva, do tipo levantamento, realizada no primeiro semestre de 2001, aplicada a 28 empresas, correspondendo a 96,55 % dos estabelecimentos gaúchos que atenderam aos requisitos da pesquisa, pode se inferir, que o setor farmacêutico estadual caracteriza-se como de capital, predominantemente, nacional, constituído, na sua essência, por empresas organizadas como sociedades por quotas de responsabilidade limitada, sendo, na sua maioria, de administração familiar e sustentada por recursos próprios. Basicamente, é composto por estabelecimentos de pequeno parte, quer seja considerado o faturamento médio anual ou o número de empregados. Concentra-se, geograficamente, na área metropolitana, possuindo, em sua maioria, áreas fabris próprias. Apresenta uma grande diversidade de produtos, na sua maior parte, de origem vegetal, com baixo a médio valor tecnológico agregado, não produzindo medicamentos genéricos, nem participando, substancialmente, dos programas govemamentais de saúde. A vasta gama de matérias-primas ativas é adquirida, de forma majoritária, no mercado interno, que é o alvo preferencial do destino de seus produtos. Os sistemas de qualidade, como forma de gestão, encontram-se em processo de implementação. Os indicadores avaliados demonstram o aperfeiçoamento do setor industrial farmacêutico gaúcho, em busca de maior qualidade e competitividade no cenário regional e nacional. / The information set about the pharmaceutical industry of the State Rio Grande do Sul is inaccurate and outdated. These data are, however, essential for the evaluation of its performance as for the setting of development strategies. This work describes the profile of the Southern Brazilian pharmaceutical industry based on the analysis of its general characteristics, the aspects related to the human resources, to the productive and quality systems, to the manufactured drugs, and to the technological and market linked factors and also to the compliance of the governmental pharmaceutical care programs. A descriptive survey was applied in the first semester of 2001 to 28 pharmaceutical enterprises, which fulfilled the research prerequisites and represented 96,55 % of the industrial segment. The majority of the establishments is supported by local financial resources, organized as limited responsibility companies and managed as a family business. On the whole the concerns could be classified as small enterprises both under the annual average revenue or employees number. They are geographically concentrated around the metropolitan region and owned their industrial plants. The production could be characterized by its large diversity of drugs, mainly from vegetable origin, with low to medium aggregate technological value. None generics and small participation at the governmental health policies were observed. The large range of raw materials was purchased from the Brazilian internal market, which was also the preferential sales target. The quality systems, as a management tool, were still under implementation. The observed indices showed the efforts done by the local pharmaceutical segment, in order to improve its quality and competitiveness toward the regional and national scenery.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Alfred P. Sloan School of Management, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND DEWEY. / Bibliography: leaves 155-156. / by Joseph J. Beshel. / M.S.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China is popular these days and this also applies to the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. China seems to be a promising market for pharmaceuticals with over 1.2 billion potential consumers. This huge number of people together with the outstanding economic performance attracted multinational pharmaceutical firms that were looking for a new market for their products. By the end of 1998, China had established over 1,500 pharmaceutical enterprises with foreign investment and 117 of which were invested by foreign pharmaceutical firms. Foreign pharmaceutical firms invested their capital and technology in what is likely to be developed as the world�s largest pharmaceutical market in the future with the expectation they will earn an excellent return in the longer term. When a firm decides to establish an overseas operation, it has to decide whether to pursue the venture alone or with a joint venture partner (Bell, 1996). For most manufacturers that want to invest abroad, the first-best entry strategy remains the sole venture (SV), and joint venture (JV) would be a second-best invest entry strategy (Root, 1994), because JV is inferior to SV which allows investing firms to maximise the returns on ownership-specific advantages (Caves, 1982) and to have full control over the business operations. Foreign pharmaceutical firms who invested in China during the period from 1980 to 1998 basically chose either a SV or JV entry mode, and over 84 percent of the foreign pharmaceutical firms chose a JV entry mode rather than a SV, even though foreign investors have been allowed to set up 100 percent solely foreign owned sole venture operations in China since the passage of �Law of the People�s Republic of China on Foreign Capital Enterprises� at the Fourth Session of the Sixth National People�s Congress on 12 April 1986. This research was designed to investigate why the large majority of pharmaceutical firms preferred the second-best entry mode for entering into the Chinese market. This research has incorporated in Root (1994), Mockler and Dologite�s (1997) conventional foreign market entry mode framework, and the relevance of Kumar and Subramaniam�s (1997) contingency entry mode framework is acknowledged. Fieldwork was mainly conducted in China by personal interviews as well as mail questionnaire surveys over a period of three months in 1999 and 44 companies participated in total. Using multiple indicators by means of logistic regression analysis to examine the effects of groups of factors on entry mode decision choice between SV and JV options. Seven groups of factors (independent variables) were examined: China environmental factors, China market factors, China production factors, parent firm�s home country/region factors, parent firm�s product factors, parent firm�s resource commitment factors, and parent firm�s decision task related factors. This research has found that the probability for establishing joint ventures with Chinese partner (s) is significantly and positively related to the importance of China environmental factors and market factors. Parent firm�s decision task related factors had a positive impact on firms� decision to choose a SV entry mode. Bivariate analyses have also discovered a number of individual variables that had significant impacts on firms� entry mode choice decisions. The research did not show sufficient evidence to support that China production factors,parent firm�s home country/region factors, parent firm�s product factors, and parent firm�s resource commitment factors had significant influences on foreign pharmaceutical firms� entry mode decisions, although the results showed expected directions of the relationships between the entry mode choice and independent variables. This research has contributed to the entry mode theory literature in the way of developing, as the result of the research in this thesis, an eclectic framework for better understanding of theories in choosing an entry mode between a sole venture and a joint venture in the context of foreign direct investment into the Chinese market, particularly it has discovered significant variables that affected the foreign pharmaceutical firms� FDI entry mode decisions into the Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturing industry during the period of 1980~1998. The framework can be used as a base by researchers to develop further the theories of foreign market entry strategies and to test its relevance in other industries or countries. This research has also extended its examinations to some other important issues in relations to foreign direct investment in China. They are the difference between early and late entrants, and between eastern and western firms on FDI entry mode decisions, foreign pharmaceutical firms� FDI decision formulation, FDI implementation, FDI performance evaluation, joint venture partner and operation location selections in China were also analysed and discussed in this thesis. Further research with larger sample size into the interrelationships among strategic FDI decision formulation, entry mode choice,strategy implementation and evaluation would be worthwhile to help understand the entire process of strategic FDI planning and implementation.

<p>This study aims at introducing and describing a novel multi parameter analysis method to identify potential acquisition targets and to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the overall match between a target company and its acquirer. The method was tested with two recent real cases involving each an antibody based biotech company and a large fully integrated pharmaceutical company. The model was validated by comparing two independent antibody companies against the real cases, testing if they would have made better targets. It was found out that the in reality acquired companies scored highest, thus proving the validity of the method. One of the four potential targets got the highest scores for both acquirers. Consequently one of the acquired targets was only the second best match. The still independent companies would not have been better targets. The lowest scoring target company did get identical scores for both acquiring companies. Despite the proper prediction of targets, the scoring did not reveal the true underlying motives for the acquisitions, nor could significant parameters be identified to discriminate between target and non-target. This study adds a novel, valuable tool to the still limited arsenal of methods to qualitatively and quantitatively measure a match between target and acquirer solely based on publicly available data.</p>

This study aims at introducing and describing a novel multi parameter analysis method to identify potential acquisition targets and to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the overall match between a target company and its acquirer. The method was tested with two recent real cases involving each an antibody based biotech company and a large fully integrated pharmaceutical company. The model was validated by comparing two independent antibody companies against the real cases, testing if they would have made better targets. It was found out that the in reality acquired companies scored highest, thus proving the validity of the method. One of the four potential targets got the highest scores for both acquirers. Consequently one of the acquired targets was only the second best match. The still independent companies would not have been better targets. The lowest scoring target company did get identical scores for both acquiring companies. Despite the proper prediction of targets, the scoring did not reveal the true underlying motives for the acquisitions, nor could significant parameters be identified to discriminate between target and non-target. This study adds a novel, valuable tool to the still limited arsenal of methods to qualitatively and quantitatively measure a match between target and acquirer solely based on publicly available data.