How Pharmaceutical Companies Utilize Platform Strategy: A Study of the COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Development

This paper employs platform theory to investigate why Moderna and BioNTech were able to develop the COVID-19 vaccine so rapidly and provides new insights into platform theory. The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in China in late 2019, spread globally within a month, causing immense damage. Vaccines were the most critical technology needed to fight the disease. Typically, vaccine developments take more than a decade; however, Moderna and BioNTech/Pfizer successfully developed an mRNA vaccine within approximately 300 days of the pandemic's onset. In contrast, Daiichi Sankyo required around 1,000 days to develop a vaccine using the same mRNA technology. This paper utilizes platform theory as a framework to examine the factors contributing to this disparity. Various internal and external factors from the perspective of a pharmaceutical company can be considered behind the rapid development of vaccines. However, this study focuses mainly on internal factors, especially from the perspective of platform theory from management perspectives. Platform theory has emerged as a crucial framework for understanding the dynamics of modern businesses and technologies. This theory distinguishes between three primary types of platforms: product-level platforms, industry-level platforms, and digital platforms. In the pharmaceutical industry, mRNA technology can be considered a product- or technology-level platform. This is because by modifying the mRNA sequences, it will be a wide range of therapeutics targeting different diseases, not only infectious diseases but also cancers or other diseases. Although this study regarded mRNA technology as a product or technology-level 4 platform, we would like to discuss how it has led to the connection to the industry-level platform or digital platform through the COVID-19 vaccine development process. In regard to the COVID-19 vaccine development story, the question that naturally arises is, 'Why could Moderna and BioNTech develop the vaccine so rapidly?' The answer must be they executed the necessary steps for vaccine development rapidly. These steps, namely 'Discovery' (development of vaccine candidate substances), 'Development' (conducting clinical trials and obtaining regulatory approval), and 'Manufacturing' (production of vaccines), were all carried out swiftly and in parallel. These steps were executed so rapidly because, at the time of the pandemic, Moderna and BioNTech already had the financial and human resources, knowledge and patents, development experiences, digital infrastructures, efficient production facilities, influential partners, and a rational corporate culture for the project. Then, the next question should be: why did Moderna and BioNTech have such organizational capabilities at the outbreak of the pandemic? In this paper, we examine in detail why and how such capabilities were nurtured after these companies were founded. Also, we examine the academic history even before the companies were founded and why and how Moderna and BioNTech were founded as mRNA platform companies. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the importance of the pharmaceutical industry harnessing the "power of the platform" and provides concrete directions for leveraging its potential. The discussion should be expanded to explore how companies and policies can work together to address the health and healthcare challenges facing people around the world, utilizing the power of platforms to drive innovation, collaboration, and, ultimately, better health outcomes for all.