Collaborative E-Commerce: Shaping the Future of Partnerships in the Healthcare Industry

Abstract

This case provides insight into the dynamics of the pharmaceutical industry and offers one view of the changing business model in the industry. What was once a vertically integrated business model for the large drug manufacturers has now been supplanted by contract manufacturers and other intermediaries that have changed the nature of competition. Cardinal has become far more than a drug wholesaler, and this case attempts to shed light on the range of services it can offer to increase its share of the overall value chain: from drug discovery to FDA trials and approval to marketing and sales of the drugs.