Instruction
First Paper: Give two examples of brands where manufacturing costs are well below the price. How have the companies been successful in charging high prices despite the low costs? How was customer information used as a part of pricing strategy?
Second paper: Read the Medi-Cult Case Study. Once you have read the case, address the 3 questions listed in the case. Case Study:
Customer-Oriented Pricing Exercise
Medi-Cult, a biotech company based in Denmark, has developed a new alternative to In
Vitro Fertilization (IVF) called In Vitro Maturation (IVM). IVM significantly reduces the time
needed to mature an egg from 30 days to just 2 days. Importantly, it is a hormone-free treatment
thus sparing women a number of psychological and physical side effects.
IVF has 4 steps:
1. Hormonal stimulation: This increases the number of eggs that are matured, lasts for 30
days, and can require up to 50 self-administered injections. The injections of hormones is
often accompanied by side effects such as nausea, mood swings, general discomfort, and
reduced sexual desire resulting in loss of work days in some cases. In 2% of the cases, 5
days of hospitalization is required.
2. Egg aspiration: The more mature eggs are removed, examined, and placed in a nutrition
fluid.
3. Fertilization: After four hours in an incubator, the eggs are fertilized with the male sperm.
4. Embryo transfer: 48 hours later, the embryos are transferred to the uterus.
IVF has about a 20% success rate. The total cost of an IVF cycle (one procedure) is about
$9,000 broken out in the following way: Cost of IVF treatment: $5,000 (including the cost of a
single dose of the IVF medium, sufficient for one cycle); cost of hormones: $3,000; lab work:
$500; miscellaneous costs: $500. Medi-Cult’s IVF medium is priced at $50 per dose with
variable costs of production being $15.
Normally, it takes 3-5 attempts before a child is born. Because the extensive hormone
treatments are so unpleasant and can be dangerous, women dislike it and often give up after the
first attempt.
IVM uses steps 2-4 of IVF. Thus, the hormonal stimulation part of the IVF procedure is
avoided. As a result, a number of the costs of the IVF procedure are significantly reduced: Cost
of IVM treatment (does not include the price of the IVM medium): $5,000; cost of hormones:
$300; lab work: $250; miscellaneous costs: $250. The variable costs of production of a cycle of
the IVM medium is the same as for IVF. The success rate of IVM in clinical trials is about the
same as that of IVF, 20%.
Medi-Cult faces two types of competition. One form of competition is the large
pharmaceutical companies like Merck, Schering-Plough, and Wyeth who supply the hormones
used in IVF. This market is worth over $1 billion worldwide. The second type of competition
comes from companies like Medi-Cult who develop and manufacture cell culture media like
IVM. The company expects to have a 2-3 year first-mover advantage.
Medi-Cult intends to market the IVM medium in the form of a single dose sufficient for
one cycle. In addition, no extra production investment is required as sufficient capacity is
available and the company already produces similar products.
Questions
1. What are the sources of economic value for IVM vs. IVF?
2. What method(s) mentioned during the lecture seem most appropriate for determining
what a person/couple would be willing to pay for a cycle of IVM?
3. Assuming away issues like insurance coverage, channels (clinics), regulations, etc.,
approximately what price would you charge for a cycle of IVM?