MACQUARIE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT MGSM CASE STUDIES IN MANAGEMENT The birth of the biotechnology era: Penicillin in Australia, 1943-1980 John A. Mathews MGSM Case 2001-2 April 2001 Disclaimer MGSM Case Studies in Management are produced as a means of stimulating discussion amongst management scholars and students. The facts reported are meant for discussion only, and are not be interpreted as imputing any value judgments on management decisions and actions. Copyright © John A. Mathews Research Office Macquarie Graduate School of Management Macquarie University Sydney NSW 2109 Australia Tel 612 9850 9016 Fax 612 9850 9942 Email
[email protected] URL http://www.gsm.mq.edu.au/research Director of Research Professor John A. Mathews Manager, Research Office Ms Kelly Callaghan ISSN 1445-3126 Printed copy 1445-3142 Online copy MGSM Case 2001-2 The birth of the biotechnology era: Penicillin in Australia 1944-1980 Dr John A. Mathews Professor of Management Director Research Macquarie Graduate School of Management Macquarie University Sydney NSW 2109 Australia Tel 61(0)2 9850 6082 Fax 61(0)2 9850 9942 Email
[email protected] URL http://www.gsm.mq.edu.au/faculty/home/john.mathews ii Contents Abstract Acknowledgments 1. Introduction 2. What is penicillin? 3. The development of penicillin: an Australian success story 4. The wartime production of penicillin: the “second Manhattan project” 5. Australian involvement in wartime penicillin production: the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories 6. Postwar penicillin and antibiotic production industry in Australia 7. Rundown of the Australian penicillin industry 8. Paths not taken in the Australian penicillin industry 9.