Global Pandemic and Rapid New Product Development of Medical Products

Abstract

New product development is a strenuous and long process for companies. When the COVID-19 disease turned into a global pandemic, governments announced the need for various medical products that were scarce and at the same time imposed lockdowns and trade restrictions. During this period, rapid new product development of medical products was attempted by many companies worldwide using their existing supply chains. Data of 240 companies from non-medical product-segment background launching new medical products were collected and analyzed. Two case studies of Indian companies responding to shortages of ventilators and PPE are presented. A critical reflection of a new way of new product development and cooperation across firms is discussed.