IMD892
06.02.2018
AM-PHARMA: CREATING VALUE (C)
Tim Knotnerus, Marion
Owczarczak-Fogli and
Mohammed El-Ansari (IMD
EMBA 2017) prepared this case
under the supervision of
Professor Jim Pulcrano as a
basis for class discussion rather
than to illustrate either effective
or ineffective handling of a
business situation.
This case study was prepared
by the authors in their personal
capacity. All opinions and
characterizations expressed in
this case study are the authors’
own and do not reflect the view
of AM-Pharma or Pfizer Inc.
The patient/family data are not
from actual clinical trial
participants.
Having conducted a detailed scientific, market and corporate due
diligence on AM-Pharma and its products, US based Pfizer Inc.
indicated its interest to make a deal to gain exclusive access to AM-
Pharma’s product. The parties agreed on an option-to-acquire format to
(i) share the risks of the ongoing phase II clinical trial; (ii) provide the
AM-Pharma investors with an early return whilst retaining the
possibility of a significant future upside in case of success; and (iii) start
investing themselves in preparation for conducting a complex and
expensive phase III clinical trial.
The next stage of the negotiations between Pfizer (represented by Bob
Smith and Leslie Coney) and AM-Pharma (represented by Erik van den
Berg, Tim Knotnerus and Russell Greig) involved the commercial terms
of the option-to-acquire deal structure.
The companies needed to find deal terms that were acceptable to all
stakeholders. What could such terms be?
Copyright © 2018 by IMD – International Institute for Management Development , Lausanne,
Switzerland (www.imd.org). No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of IMD.
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This document is authorized for educator review use only by Raj Shea, California State University – East Bay until Dec 2022. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
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