Exubera and NICE Net Present Value (NPV) / MBA Resources

Introduction to Net Present Value (NPV) - What is Net Present Value (NPV) ? How it impacts financial decisions regarding project management?

NPV solution for Exubera and NICE case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Exubera and NICE case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Stefanos Zenios, Robert Chess, Lyn Denend. The Exubera and NICE (referred as “Payers Exubera” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Leadership & Managing People. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Health, Personnel policies, Research & development.

The net present value (NPV) of an investment proposal is the present value of the proposal’s net cash flows less the proposal’s initial cash outflow. If a project’s NPV is greater than or equal to zero, the project should be accepted.

NPV = Present Value of Future Cash Flows LESS Project’s Initial Investment

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Case Description of Exubera and NICE Case Study

Historically, the biggest obstacle that healthcare innovators, such as pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, needed to overcome on their way to market was securing approval by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) or other international regulatory authorities. However, in the last decade, a new (sometimes even more challenging) hurdle had to be cleared: insurance coverage and reimbursement. Payers--either public payers, such as Medicare in the U.S. and the National Health Services (NHS) in the U.K., or private commercial payers, such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield and UnitedHealth Grou--could deny coverage for a technology that had received regulatory approval if they determined that the supporting evidence did not adequately demonstrate that the technology was superior to existing treatment alternatives that were already being reimbursed. This had the potential to create a potentially adversarial relationship between payers and innovators in cases where they had conflicting interpretations of the evidence regarding the cost, benefits, and risks of new technologies. The challenges to innovators in managing this conflict are illustrated in this case study by an example: the 2006 decision by the U.K.'s NHS to deny coverage for Exubera, a new form of inhaled insulin.

Case Authors : Stefanos Zenios, Robert Chess, Lyn Denend

Topic : Leadership & Managing People

Related Areas : Health, Personnel policies, Research & development

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Exubera and NICE Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10012784)	-10012784	-	-
Year 1	3451873	-6560911	3451873	0.9434	3256484
Year 2	3973230	-2587681	7425103	0.89	3536161
Year 3	3972423	1384742	11397526	0.8396	3335323
Year 4	3241016	4625758	14638542	0.7921	2567188
TOTAL			14638542		12695156

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2682372

In isolation the NPV number doesn't mean much but put in right context then it is one of the best method to evaluate project returns. In this article we will cover -

Different methods of capital budgeting

What is NPV & Formula of NPV,
How it is calculated,
How to use NPV number for project evaluation, and
Scenario Planning given risks and management priorities.

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Capital Budgeting Approaches

Methods of Capital Budgeting

There are four types of capital budgeting techniques that are widely used in the corporate world –

1. Payback Period
2. Profitability Index
3. Internal Rate of Return
4. Net Present Value

Apart from the Payback period method which is an additive method, rest of the methods are based on Discounted Cash Flow technique. Even though cash flow can be calculated based on the nature of the project, for the simplicity of the article we are assuming that all the expected cash flows are realized at the end of the year.

Discounted Cash Flow approaches provide a more objective basis for evaluating and selecting investment projects. They take into consideration both –

1. Magnitude of both incoming and outgoing cash flows – Projects can be capital intensive, time intensive, or both. Payers Exubera shareholders have preference for diversified projects investment rather than prospective high income from a single capital intensive project.
2. Timing of the expected cash flows – stockholders of Payers Exubera have higher preference for cash returns over 4-5 years rather than 10-15 years given the nature of the volatility in the industry.

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Formula and Steps to Calculate Net Present Value (NPV) of Exubera and NICE

NPV = Net Cash In Flowt1 / (1+r)t1 + Net Cash In Flowt2 / (1+r)t2 + … Net Cash In Flowtn / (1+r)tn
Less Net Cash Out Flowt0 / (1+r)t0

Where t = time period, in this case year 1, year 2 and so on.
r = discount rate or return that could be earned using other safe proposition such as fixed deposit or treasury bond rate. Net Cash In Flow – What the firm will get each year.
Net Cash Out Flow – What the firm needs to invest initially in the project.

Step 1 – Understand the nature of the project and calculate cash flow for each year.
Step 2 – Discount those cash flow based on the discount rate.
Step 3 – Add all the discounted cash flow.
Step 4 – Selection of the project

Why Leadership & Managing People Managers need to know Financial Tools such as Net Present Value (NPV)?

In our daily workplace we often come across people and colleagues who are just focused on their core competency and targets they have to deliver. For example marketing managers at Payers Exubera often design programs whose objective is to drive brand awareness and customer reach. But how that 30 point increase in brand awareness or 10 point increase in customer touch points will result into shareholders’ value is not specified.

To overcome such scenarios managers at Payers Exubera needs to not only know the financial aspect of project management but also needs to have tools to integrate them into part of the project development and monitoring plan.

Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 15%

After working through various assumptions we reached a conclusion that risk is far higher than 6%. In a reasonably stable industry with weak competition - 15% discount rate can be a good benchmark.

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 15 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10012784)	-10012784	-	-
Year 1	3451873	-6560911	3451873	0.8696	3001629
Year 2	3973230	-2587681	7425103	0.7561	3004333
Year 3	3972423	1384742	11397526	0.6575	2611933
Year 4	3241016	4625758	14638542	0.5718	1853061
TOTAL					10470955

The Net NPV after 4 years is 458171

(10470955 - 10012784 )

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 20%

If the risk component is high in the industry then we should go for a higher hurdle rate / discount rate of 20%.

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 20 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10012784)	-10012784	-	-
Year 1	3451873	-6560911	3451873	0.8333	2876561
Year 2	3973230	-2587681	7425103	0.6944	2759188
Year 3	3972423	1384742	11397526	0.5787	2298856
Year 4	3241016	4625758	14638542	0.4823	1562990
TOTAL					9497594

The Net NPV after 4 years is -515190

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9497594 - 10012784 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Payers Exubera to discount cash flow at lower discount rates such as 15%.

Acceptance Criteria of a Project based on NPV

Simplest Approach – If the investment project of Payers Exubera has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Payers Exubera can ACCEPT the project, otherwise they can reject the project. This means that project will deliver higher returns over the period of time than any alternate investment strategy.

In theory if the required rate of return or discount rate is chosen correctly by finance managers at Payers Exubera, then the stock price of the Payers Exubera should change by same amount of the NPV. In real world we know that share price also reflects various other factors that can be related to both macro and micro environment.

In the same vein – accepting the project with zero NPV should result in stagnant share price. Finance managers use discount rates as a measure of risk components in the project execution process.

Sensitivity Analysis

Project selection is often a far more complex decision than just choosing it based on the NPV number. Finance managers at Payers Exubera should conduct a sensitivity analysis to better understand not only the inherent risk of the projects but also how those risks can be either factored in or mitigated during the project execution. Sensitivity analysis helps in –

What can impact the cash flow of the project.

What are the key aspects of the projects that need to be monitored, refined, and retuned for continuous delivery of projected cash flows.

What are the uncertainties surrounding the project Initial Cash Outlay (ICO’s). ICO’s often have several different components such as land, machinery, building, and other equipment.

What will be a multi year spillover effect of various taxation regulations.

Understanding of risks involved in the project.

Some of the assumptions while using the Discounted Cash Flow Methods –

Projects are assumed to be Mutually Exclusive – This is seldom the came in modern day giant organizations where projects are often inter-related and rejecting a project solely based on NPV can result in sunk cost from a related project.

Independent projects have independent cash flows – As explained in the marketing project – though the project may look independent but in reality it is not as the brand awareness project can be closely associated with the spending on sales promotions and product specific advertising.

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Negotiation Strategy of Exubera and NICE

References & Further Readings

Stefanos Zenios, Robert Chess, Lyn Denend (2018), "Exubera and NICE Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.