You tend to diversify or spread your risks across products and business units. The objective is to make it do well in the private market as well.įor them, the idea is to move away from the instability that this product brings to their balance sheet every other year when they win or lose the government tender.Īnd that makes perfect sense as per the portfolio effect. The assignment that I have includes working on this product and making it a strong part of the portfolio. Otherwise, for the private market, it sells like a commodity with a lot of competition and generic drugs eating into their market. One of their high performing products (by sales) does good numbers only when it bags the government tender for that year. My interaction with the marketing managers and the sales team led me to the understanding that the government ordering of medicines happens through tenders. They have a large product portfolio spanning across various therapeutic specialties. To simultaneously keep a check on these diverse brands and take decisions according to their performance, it is imperative to use a systematic framework like a GE Matrix.Īs I write this piece in October 2018, I am working on a consulting assignment in Singapore for one of the top American pharmaceutical companies.
