Exploring international portfolio diversification strategies: the case of genetic immunization in the antibody discovery market
Ayoub Esseghir1 2, Fanny Arrighi1, Sarah Alavi1
1ESTA School of Business & Technology,
90000 Belfort, France
2Sartorius Polyplus S.A.S,
67400 Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France
ABSTRACT: Monoclonal antibodies are one of the most prevalent categories of marketed biomedicines. Despite their therapeutic applications, antibodies have a variety of non-therapeutic uses. Their use is interesting for diagnostic and research purposes due to their specific targeting. The discovery of antibodies primarily relies on the use of peptides and protein antigens. More than half of the approved monoclonal antibodies have been discovered by animal immunization, which primarily relies on the in vivo delivery of peptides or protein antigens. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, new perspectives have emerged thanks to the spread of molecular biology, particularly the use of nucleic acids for vaccination and immunization purposes. The use of DNA and RNA molecules for animal immunization simplifies the process of accessing desired antigens, enabling faster and more cost-effective discoveries, development, and production. Sartorius, a pharmaceutical and laboratory solution supplier, offers products and services of potential interest in DNA or RNA immunization. This work aims at analyzing how a portfolio can be diversified by exploring new product applications such as supporting the antibody discovery process through a marketing initiative. To address the lack of established frameworks and to facilitate the deployment of DNA or RNA immunization strategies in antibody discovery, this case study proposes a new analytical dimension to support a contextualized strategic model tailored to the biotech industry. The proposed framework in this study will capitalize on Sartorius resources and tools to enhance the alignment between customer needs and the company’s capabilities. Through detailed market analysis, strategic and operational stages, the case study identifies key opportunities for adopting genetic immunization. The findings highlight the potential for genetic immunization to accelerate discovery processes, reduce costs, and expand access to high affinity/quality antibodies to the researcher and antibody developer. An iterative framework was successfully developed for application in a real biotech industry environment, with the objective of facilitating portfolio diversification in a short timeframe. While the study resulted in valuable insights, its conclusions were constrained by limitations in time and resources. An issue was identified for critical tasks and steps as they were not clearly identified, leading to a lack of proper management. Further in-depth investigation is necessary in this case study. In pursuit of this objective, it is necessary to assess the deployment and implementation outcomes of established strategies developed using this iterative framework.
KEYWORDS: Antibody Discovery, Data Management, DNA/RNA Immunization, Marketing Strategy, Diversification