Migraine Meds

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Prompt

GSK has a prescription migraine medicine, IMITREX, which belongs to a class of medicines called triptans. IMITREX was the first medicine in this class (introduction to the US market in 2005) and has patent protection in the US for another 5 years. It remains the market leader despite the emergence of 5 direct competitors in the triptan class. Triptans compete with other nonspecific prescription pain relievers. IMITREX also competes with over the counter headache products.

The volume of OTC use is at least 10-fold higher than the prescription medicines for migraine. An IMITREX prescription for 10 tablets costs approximately $150 at the retail pharmacy level (1 Tablet per migraine headache), although many patients have health insurance and pay a co-pay of $20 to $30 per prescription. OTC headache medicines cost approximately $5 for a bottle of 30 tablets (2 tablets per headache).

The client is wondering whether it should sell its drug OTC.

Overview

The client in this IQVIA case study is a pharma company that is considering selling one of its prescription drugs. Your job is to dig into the profitability of the drug and determine whether it makes sense to keep or sell. Don’t forget that the ultimate goal is always profitability.

How will you frame your approach? You can use the Profitability Framework to get started, but don’t limit yourself to the basic frameworks. Get creative! Think outside the frameworks to build a custom structure for the case.

With a qualitative difficulty score of 2 out of 4, this case is like a case you would find in an IQVIA final round. There are no graphs/charts to interpret.

IQVIA Interview Tips

IQVIA seeks out candidates that are able to dig through large amounts of data and generate high-level insights.

Make sure you are asking the right questions that will help you gather only the information necessary to inform your recommendation in the case.

Maximize your case study practice by timing yourself as you walk through the case (recommended times are listed on the Guidance pages).

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