Regarding the Launch of Oxyglobin

TO:  Carl Rausch

FROM: Manu

SUBJECT: Regarding the launch of Oxyglobin

DATE: Aug 29

This memorandum is to suggest that Biopure proceed with the launch of Oxyglobin.  This would help in gaining leverage in a niche market for animal blood substitutes and will provide a better platform for launching the human blood substitute product Hemopure.

Ever since its inception, Biopure was a biopharmaceutical firm specializing in the ultra-purification of proteins for human and veterinary use. Hence a product like Oxyglobin would fit into the company’s mission and would help Biopure to be an industry leader. The company has developed some of the best technology to manufacture a blood substitute. Most of the competition is stuck with a costly manufacturing process and is years behind our state of the art technology and manufacturing process.  Laid back approach and fear of failure to launch a product like Oxyglobin might take the company backwards. Teams which worked on the Oxyglobin product might want to see their products hitting the markets soon to get the customer feedback. It would also help in fine-tuning the production process for Hemopure as it is a similar product. Moreover, investors would be more interested to invest in a company which has more innovative products in the pipeline. Once Oxyglobin is accepted amongst the customers, it would help in creating a good will amongst the customers and prospective investors.

Most of the competition also plans to price the product in the same range as Biopure for human blood subsitutes, so pricing shouldn’t be a major problem. The revenues generated from the sales of oxyglobin will also help in adjusting the price of Hemopure if needed.  Oxyglobin can be priced in the range of $100-$200 as various surveys show that the customers and veterinarians gravitate towards that price range. Since our products are bovine-sourced, the raw materials costs are also cheap as compared to the competition. We also have an advantage of being the only company of having products which do not have extensive refrigeration requirements as our products are shelf stable. Another important point to note here is that the FDA approval process would take couple of years and if any of our competitors tries to replicate a product like Oxyglobin or Hemopure, it would not be able to bring it to the market quickly. Oxyglobin has been already approved by the FDA and Hemopure would be also approved within a year or so. This would provide us an opportunity that could make us essentially a market leader.  

A product like Oxyglobin needs to be out in the market. It would be a huge mistake if we wait for too long and then regret about the huge competition that could overtake us. The advantages gained by the launch of Oxyglobin would surely help us in positioning Hemopure better.