2008-02-08
BEL – ME2306
Atlas Antibodies
Question formulation, purpose and method
Alexander Grankvist
Kasper Karlsson
Martin Lagerblad
Pontus Sundqvist
BACKGROUND
A great quantity of information has emerged from the Human Proteome Resource
project (HPR). This information contains great value both for medical studies, as well as
a contribution to the market supplying biomedical technology. Atlas Antibodies AB
today holds the intellectual property rights to biomarkers discovered within the HPR. In
addition, Atlas Antibodies holds the right to commersialize the monospecific antibodies
developed by HPR. Atlas Antibodies started their sales of antibodies the fall of 2006.
Today they are at the breaking point of starting to outlicense potential cancer biomarkers
and intend to analyze this market.
PROBLEM
Our ambition, while conducting this research, is to analyze and investigate the future
market for the biomarkers that Atlas Antibodies will be providing. This problem is said
to be an open question alignment (Eriksson, Widersheim-Paul, 2006). This implies that
we want to propose a first view of the market, our first analyze might lead to a more
profound investigations following up. The main problem is constructed of a series of sub
problems, for which we intend to seek answers:

What does the future cancer diagnostic market look like?

What is the market size for cancer diagnostic products focusing on Antibody
based products?

What type of deals has been made in the out licensing of biomarkers, how can we
value these deals and what kind of deal structure is most common?

Who are the market leaders in cancer diagnostics?
PURPOSE
Our purpose with this study is to give a broad investigation and quantification of the
market of cancer diagnostics based on biomarkers. The focus of this market analysis will
be based on the market for the products that may be developed against the pipeline of
potential cancer biomarkes identified and validated by Atlas Antibodies. The study will
be based on the information retrieved while interviewing and conducting research in the
field of cancer diagnostic product in general, and specifically cancer biomarkers. A
secondary purpose of this study is to educate our self in the field of analyzing
pharmaceutical markets
METHODS
The bulk of the report will be based on information retrieved with the help of qualitative
methods. This qualitatively obtained information will consist of interviews with leading
academic researches and industry experts as well with members of the medical
profession. In addition, information about the cancer diagnostic market will be obtained
from industry reports and from annual reports from large companies in the field. The
information about different types of licensing deals and payment structures will be
mainly obtained from public information (newspaper articles and annual reports).
The interviews will be (if possible) conducted in personal if the person to be interviewed
is in the Stockholm area, in other cases by telephone. Questions will be prepared
beforehand but the aim of the interviews is not that the interviewee is to answer all of
2008-02-08
Alexander Grankvist
BEL – ME2306
Kasper Karlsson
Atlas Antibodies
Martin Lagerblad
Question formulation, purpose and method
Pontus Sundqvist
them. They are just to serve as guidance for the interview. The interviews will (when
allowed) be taped.
This description of methods used will be expanded and clarifyed as the project goes on.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The theoretical framework will be applyed on the information retrieved and will be used
to make conlusions and serve as guidance for answering the questions stipulated in the
report. We have decided to use SWOT ananlysis, PEST analysis and Porters Five Forces
analysis, which we cosider to be good tools. By combining these we believe that we will
be able to deliver a rich market analysis.
SWOT analysis
One of the most used strategic analysis models is called the SWOT analysis. SWOT
stands for: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The analysis can be
divided into two parts, one internal and one external. The internal part consists of
analysing the companies own Strengths and Weaknesses. The external part is an
evaluation of the Opportunities and threats present in the external environment that the
company is, or considers being, active in.
Altogether these perspectives give a good picture of the company’s current situation and
the possibility of reaching its strategic goals.
PEST analysis
The environment of a company can be divided in internal and external environment. The
external environment can be divided in a micro, e.g. external customers, agents and
distributors, suppliers, competitors, etc, and a macro-level.
PEST analysis is a tool to analyse the macro-environment. It includes the poltical,
economical, sociocultural and technological factors. It gives a broad overview of which
factors.
PEST factor are usually out of the grasp for companies, and can be translated to Threats
and Opportunities in a SWOT analysis.
Porters Five Forces
Porters Five Forces model is a useful tool to understand how attractive a market is to be
in. The Five Forces are:
 Threat of new entry
 Buyer Power
 Supplier Power
 Threat of Substitution
 Competitive Rivalry
The model describes under what conditions the different forces are likely to be high and
what the implications usually are. An overall high pressure from these five areas will give
lower profitability.
Eriksson, L & Widersheim-Paul, F, 2006, Att utreda och forska, Liber, Malmö