Executive summary This paper is aimed at developing an action plan for such company as Eli Lilly. First, it will explain the nature of difficulties faced by this pharmaceutical corporation. Secondly, it will evaluate various marketing decisions which the company could take under those circumstances. It should be noted that this analysis relies primarily on the information presented in the case study by Elie Ofek and Ron Laufer (2008). This case study focuses on the strategy or strategies that this organization had to choose in 2000. They were primarily related to the development of such a medicine as duloxetine or Cymbalta. The main recommendation that one can make is that this pharmaceutical corporation should attach greater importance to their brand image. In particular, product development efforts and marketing campaign should first emphasize the efficiency of their drug as an antidepressant and tolerability. Its analgesic capacity should be a supplement but not the main attribute of the product. The rationale for these recommendations will be explained in the following sections of the paper. Major issue The problem faced by Eli Lilly had several dimensions. First, one should say that for a long time this pharmaceutical company was the major supplier of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), especially fluoxetine, commonly known as Prozac. They were the only company that could sell the antidepressants based on this chemical molecule that they developed. However, this situation could significantly change due to patent expiration. The thing is that manufacturers of generic drugs could bring very similar and less expensive products into the market, and it would have been difficult to compete with them only by means of price differentiation (Ofek & Laufer 2008, p. 1). Hence, this organization had to introduce a new product that could successfully replace Prozac. At that point, the only antidepressant that could do that was Cymbalta or duloxetine (Ofek & Laufer 2008, p. 8). Overall, this drug had some significant strengths and limitations. It could treat various forms of depression and pain that sometimes accompanied this psychological disorder. Nonetheless, it required a higher dosage, especially in comparison with Prozac or other antidepressants. At that point, they did not know whether QD 1 dose of Cymbalta could effectively treat major depressive disorder (MDD). The management of Eli Lilly had to choose between several options. On the one hand, they could invest into a clinical trial that could prove the efficiency of Cymbalta in treating MDD. On the other hand, they could carry out a clinical investigation which would demonstrate that this antidepressant could effectively mitigate the pain of the patients with mood disorders (Ofek & Laufer 2008, p. 8). Therefore, this organization had to take a crucial marketing decision. They could emphasize the overall efficiency and safety of their product. Yet, they could also lay stress the idea that it could create extra value for patients. Another issue that one has to consider is time and cost constraints. The thing is that the generic versions of Prozac could be introduced within the next two years or even less. In turn, a large scale medical trial could last for approximately 16 month and its average cost ranged from $25 to $50 million (Ofek & Laufer