Moderna is a pharmaceutical company that was founded in 2010 and has a special focus on mRNA technology and immuno-oncology, infectious, rare, autoimmune, and cardiovascular diseases (Moderna, 2021). The early 2010s were a time during which major innovations and diversification of the pharmaceutical industry began to take place. The past ten years also show high product competition in the industry due to manufacturing-related recalls, much of which is and was fostered by federal regulations (Ball et al., 2018). The policy in the industry continued to become more critical on a national level. 2010 showed a steady increase and decrease in the number of firms within the pharmaceutical manufacturing field, which depicts a highly competitive specialized climate (United States Census Bureau, 2010). Socioeconomic factors are also cited to be highly influential, such as health trends, well-being product demand, or disease occurrence (Lee, 2010).
Additionally, 2010 saw a decrease in the employment of more experienced workers, as employees over 65 were often prone to self-employment (Small Business Administration, 2012). However, early 2010 also made way for 15.5 million jobs in the private sector, with startups being supported by initiatives such as Startup American (Kalil & Rand, 2016). Moderna is based in Massachusetts, which passed the Massachusetts Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Manufacturer Code of Conduct policy just the year before Moderna’s establishment (Sullivan, 2018). This code ensured that companies had to report payments beyond 50 USD, which created further legal responsibilities for Moderna which relied on a large body of working physicians.
Moderna entered the pharmaceutical industry at a competitive and fluctuating time due to socioeconomic factors, evolving industry standards and practices, and policy alterations. Despite this, this is likely to have been the best time for it to have done so. This can be deduced from their steady growth and specialization, resulting in an essential product, one of the COVID-19 vaccines of this year.
References
Ball, G. P., Shah, R., & Wowak, K. D. (2018). Product competition, managerial discretion, and manufacturing recalls in the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. Journal of Operations Management, 58, 59-72. Web.
Kalil, T., & Rand, D. (2016). President Obama’s Top ten actions to accelerate American entrepreneurship. The White House President Barack Obama. Web.
Lee, B. (2010). University students’ assessment of entrepreneurial environments [Unpublished master’s thesis]. The University of Nebraska.
Moderna. (2021, February 1). Moderna’s company history. Moderna. Web.
Small Business Administration. (2012). Frequently asked questions about small business. Web.
Sullivan, T. (2018). Massachusetts pharmaceutical and device code of conduct: companies won’t wave to report payments covered by Federal Sunshine Act; gift ban still in place. Policy & Medicine. Web.
United States Census Bureau. (2010). Business dynamics statistics: Establishment age: 1978-2018 [Data set]. Web.