SDA Bocconi students participate in prestigious Healthcare Competition in Chicago

SDA Bocconi was one of 10 schools represented in the competition at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago.

On January 28, a SDA Bocconi team competed in the Kellogg Biotech & Healthcare Case Competition 2023 at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Chicago, Illinois. This year’s edition was the 20th anniversary, making it one of the oldest and most recognized healthcare case competitions in the world. The event was sponsored by Moderna.

Our team was composed of four MIHMEP students, Kayan Abukhaizaran, Federico di Fulio, Maria Laura della Rossa and Natalie Schueller, as well as two MBA students, Cesare Rodigari and Yueming Chen, who was the only student to participate remotely.

The team was given a case and had a week leading up to the competition to prepare their presentation. This year’s topic was how should Pfizer bring its new RSV vaccines to market? After the COVID challenges, this next vaccine has enormous potential to help people. But in healthcare nothing sells itself.

“Planning an impactful market access strategy for Pfizer’s new RSV vaccine in the U.S. meant delving deep into the American healthcare system, which in many ways differs fundamentally from those in Europe,” says MIHMEP student Natalie Schueller. “It was interesting to explore this interplay between policy and pricing in defining a successful market access strategy for the new RSV vaccine.”

The competition was challenging, says Cesare Rodigari, MBA student and President of the Healthcare Club, given that the context of the US healthcare system varies significantly from the ones he and his fellow participants are familiar with, but the competition was a chance to get some experience with aspects of marketing in this field.

“It was a great introduction to the pharmaceutical field and the marketing of pharmaceuticals,” he says, “like launching the new vaccine, which was a real case, so it was very important to understand what is behind launching a new product, everything regarding marketing, expenses and competitors.”

The 10 participating schools were chosen out of 35 teams. Participating in such a competitive and prestigious competition gave the MBA and MIHMEP students exposure to new contexts in the world of healthcare and an opportunity to expand their network.

“During the event, we met great minds from the world’s top business schools,” says Kayan Abukhaizaran. “We also participated in the Kellogg Healthcare conference which is a great networking opportunity where we got the chance to hear from healthcare pioneers about their experiences and positive impact on healthcare.”

SDA Bocconi School of Management