Eli Lilly Case

normal. Three companies shared the market of the blood glucose testing by 1990, the

Johnson & Johnson, Ames, and Boehringer Mannheim. Eli Lilly’s own BGM had

developed and advertised in 1985. The meters without needing expensive single-use

strips (the portable BMG needs strips), but they unstable performance and had to be

withdrawn from the market.

Analysis

The reasons for Humulin’s and Lilly’s BGM failure are that the research of Eli Lilly did

not meet the requirements of the patients of that time, although the purity of the insulin

always matters, and the meter without experience strips. There are several mistakes that

company made.

Fist, the company did not consider the affordability of customer. The price of Humulin

was too high so especially low-end market non-accept this product. Second, Humulin’s

development did not meet patient’s needs. According to the article, don’t validate the

market first with your assumption, in the case, the purity of the insulin always matters,

Eli Lilly assumed that patients would seek purity insulin. The company invested $700 to

build the first large-scale biotechnology plant in the world. However, patients were not

dissatisfied to pay premium price for Humulin, they believed that animal insulin was

slightly different from human insulin.