Bridging the Gap from Inventions to Innovations -Increasing Success Rates in Clinical Trials

Abstract

Turning basic research discoveries into marketable products or technologies is a major challenge. We conceptualize exploitation skills to go beyond the use and development of things already known (Levinthal & March, 1993, 108) by discussing how basic and applied research skills need to interact in order to successfully test inventions to turn them into innovations. Using data on over 4500 clinical trials in pharmaceutical industry, we find that when investigators leading these trials have a skill set that in terms of quantity and quality balances basic and applied science likelihood of success increases. Importantly, positive impact of bridging relies on individuals bridging basic-applied science divide. Inter-individual splitting of basic and applied skills in teams does not compensate for intra-individual bridging skills. Breadth of experience in terms of disease fields reduces success in exploitation and negatively moderates bridging skills.